Athletic Training Chair Leads Publication of NATA Safe Weight Loss Guidelines

The National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) has published its first-ever position statement on recommendations for safe weight loss and maintenance thanks to the expertise of Dr. Paula Sammarone Turocy, who was lead author for the project. The guidelines, Safe Weight Loss and Maintenance Practices in Sports and Exercise, were published by the NATA in the June issue of the Journal of Athletic Training.

Turocy, who is an associate professor and founding chair of the Department of Athletic Training in the Rangos School, was first approached by the NATA in 2004 to prepare the guidelines.

According to the NATA, the guidelines were written “to present athletic trainers with recommendations for safe weight loss and weight maintenance practices for athletes and active clients, and to provide athletes, clients, coaches and parents with safe guidelines that will allow athletes and clients to achieve and maintain weight and body composition goals.”

Turocy, who used her semester sabbatical in 2004 to get the project off the ground, worked with seven other experts, including other athletic trainers, a physician, a psychologist and two exercise physiologists.

“This was a collaborative effort, so it takes a little longer to do than a traditional publication or research project,” Turocy said of the six-year project, explaining that the guidelines went out five times for refereed reviews to different types of groups and the professional journal editors before it was presented to and approved by the NATA Board of Directors in April.

Turocy also does nutrition counseling for Duquesne’s athletes, working with them during both the academic year as well as the summer months. When addressing some misconceptions about weight loss and maintenance, she is quick to name restricting food as the most common.

“Some people may decide not to eat any fat at all—if they make that decision, they can’t absorb their fat-soluble vitamins correctly and their body can be ultimately affected for a very long period of time,” said Turocy. “Some people think that breads are bad, but they’re not. Carbohydrates are the first energy source that the body uses.”

Restricting individual food groups or eating too much of one food group is also a mistake, according to Turocy. “For example, some think the more protein, the better (for building muscle),” said Turocy. “That’s not a proper way to do it either, because too much protein is also not good for you.”

Turocy, who has done several media interviews about the new guidelines, said she is pleased with the response that this is getting.

“I’m pleased that so many people are interested in getting the message out and that the media are picking up this story because it is important,” Turocy said. “With so many children being overweight and with people watching The Biggest Loser and thinking that that is the only way that they can go about losing weight or maintaining good weight, I think it’s really good that we are getting a common sense approach out there to folks.”