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Top Indonesian athletes have unhealthy habits, poor diet
Lalu Muhammad Zohri (JP/P
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Lalu Muhammad Zohri (JP/P.J. Leo)
Who would have thought that rising Indonesian sprinter Lalu Muhammad Zohri, the fastest man in Southeast Asia, suffers from pinworms?
The infection was revealed by Indonesian Athletics Association (PASI) chief Bob Hasan.
In an exclusive interview with The Jakarta Post early this month, Bob said the association had learned about Zohri’s condition after the sprinter had taken a routine medical examination recently.
“We have doctors and nutritionists to check on the athletes. We’ve found some problems. Zohri, for example, our world champ, has had pinworms.”
“It happened because he did not wear shoes while he was back in his hometown and rarely washes his hands before eating,” said the prominent businessman.
After the examination, Zohri said he realized that some of his old habits, including letting his nails grow long, might also have caused the infection.
“If I eat vitamins or proteins while recovering from injury, the body doesn’t absorb them, as the worms eat them first,” the West Nusa Tenggara-born athlete told the Post.
Zohri, the 2018 Under-20 World Championship men’s 100 meters gold medalist, is not the only track star in the country’s athletics squad with health issues.
Emilia Nova, who competes in the women’s 100 m hurdles, has experienced a rather slow recovery after injuring her left heel.
According to the regular medical examination, Bob said, quoting the doctor, Emilia’s slow recovery was attributed to her poor chewing habit while eating. The hurdler was not used to chewing her food thoroughly.
“The body could not absorb the vitamins [from food], as she did not chew the food properly. That habit had made her prone to injuries” said Bob.
The PASI has its own medical team of 10 doctors and a nutritionist to support the athletes.
“They check the athletes on a daily basis,” said Bob, who was the trade minister during president Soeharto’s government in 1998.
Similar to the PASI, the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) also has a medical team with at least four doctors, specializing from sport medicine to surgery, according to badmintonindonesia.org.
However, not all sport federations in Indonesia are equipped with a decent medical team.
The Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi), for example, has neither a doctor nor a nutritionist due to limited funding.
Percasi head of development and achievement Kristianus Liem said his team was relying on a nutritionist that was hired by the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) for the country’s preparation for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines.
The association has not sent any nutritionist to accompany Susanto Megaranto, Indonesia’s top player, to the 2019 Chess World Cup in Russia.
Kristianus said he himself would supervise Susanto’s diet during the tournament, which began on Monday.
“Susanto likes to eat goat soup, because he feels it makes him stronger. In chess, mood and comfort play an important role, because when he feels comfortable he can be more creative while playing,” he said.
“We always suggest that players not eat two hours before a game, and they also should not eat heavy food like beef, which requires a longer time for the body to process,” he added.
The director of the Youth and Sports Ministry’s Eminence Sport Medicine and Human Performance Center (SPPOI), Andi Kurniawan, said many factors influenced the fitness of elite athletes, including health, training, eating patterns, lifestyle, psychological condition and environment.
He said international elite athletes were already aware of certain rules they needed to follow, such as managing good sleeping and eating patterns, to compete at the top level.
“In Indonesia, few athletes have been able to manage all the factors in a disciplined way,” the sports medicine physician said on Tuesday.
“World elite athletes must have a team that consists of a physician, nutritionist, masseur and psychologist aside from their coaches. In Indonesia, the aforementioned roles rest mostly on the shoulders of the coaches.
“Unfortunately, awareness among sport federations [about the need for] a complete team of medical professionals in their organization is still low,” he added.
