Honiara, 15th March 2022 – For every sport, nutrition is a key foundational element of athletic success. Thus, a well-designed sport nutrition plan allows athletes to perform at their best.
These points were highlighted by the Solomon Islands National Institute of Sport (SINIS) High–Performance Nutritionist Fiorenzo Toncan.
Five National Sports Federations have gone through the initial High–Performance Athlete Induction where nutrition screening was part of the process.
Few significant points were highlighted during the induction for athletes to get familiar with baseline data on dietary habits, complications towards health, eating and an overall view of their body compositions (mainly body mass).
“Sports Nutrition is quite new to the sporting federations, and many athletes have voiced that this is the first time they have undergone any type of Nutrition Screening,” says Ms Toncan
During the induction, these athletes undergo a 30-minute nutrition session – whereby they are a general nutrition knowledge quiz, a sit thorough presentation where they are introduced to the importance of nutrition sport and services, they will be accessing at SINIS.
“Nutrition is part of the holistic approach that SINIS offers as part of our services for athletes, and programs and services will continue to roll out,” she adds.
SINIS Nutrition department staff and interns have recently held meetings with nutritionist staff from the Ministry of Health & Medical Services (MHMS), National Referral Hospital (NRH), Solomon Islands National University (SINU), and Correctional Services Solomon Islands (CSSI) to create partnerships to further complement the work of Nutrition at SINIS
Sports federations that already are part of the nutrition screening are; Taekwondo, Karate, Paralympic, Athletics and Hockey.
“We are looking forward to engaging more athletes from other sports to see the essential role nutrition plays for better sports performances,” Toncan concluded.
- SINIS Media
Featured Photo Caption: Nutritionists from SINIS HP (staff/intern), MHMS, CSSI, NRH and SINU during one of their meetings. PHOTO SUPPLIED.
