Correlation Between Diet Quality and Nutritional Status with Physical Fitness of Adolescent Indoor Handball Athletes at Handball Lembang Club

Abstract

Indoor handball is a high-intensity intermittent sport that places considerable physiological demands on adolescent athletes, making adequate diet quality and nutritional status critical for performance. This study aimed to analyze the correlation between diet quality and nutritional status with physical fitness among adolescent indoor handball athletes at Handball Lembang Club, West Bandung Regency, Indonesia. A cross-sectional observational design was employed with 32 athletes aged 16–18 years selected through total sampling. Diet quality was assessed using the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I) derived from a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (SQ-FFQ), while nutritional status was determined by body mass index-for-age (BMI/A) using WHO AnthroPlus software. Physical fitness was measured using the Indonesian Physical Fitness Test (TKJI) for ages 16–19 years. Data were analyzed using Spearman rank correlation. Results showed that the majority of athletes (68.8%) had good diet quality with a mean DQI-I score of 62.2 ± 7.32, while 63% demonstrated good physical fitness. A significant positive correlation was found between diet quality and physical fitness (r = 0.478; p = 0.006), and a significant negative correlation between nutritional status and physical fitness (r = −0.404; p = 0.022). These findings indicate that better diet quality is associated with higher physical fitness, while higher BMI/A (overweight and obesity) is associated with lower physical fitness. Regular monitoring of diet quality and nutritional status, along with targeted nutrition education, is recommended to optimize athletic performance in adolescent handball players.