Abstract
More than half the children and three in 10 Australian adults actively participate in organised sport. Adult male participation(33%) exceeds female(25%), together representing four million frequent adult participants of whom one-quarter are involved in more than one sport. A further 3.5 million people engage in other sport and physical activity, making a total of 55% of aduits(7.5 million) who deliberately exercise or play sport. These overall participation rates are broadly similar to the United States and Eng and. The variety of sports and physical activities, when added to cach individual's attributes and goals, enfold a complex picture for optimal nutritional support. The requirements cf most sportspeople to produce more power and maintain or achieve chosen body mass and body fat levels can be addressed within recognised nutritionat guidelines. of which dairy products are an integral part. Dairy is further recognised for providing calcium, especially to those in weight dependent sports. Dedicated athletes employ specific timed nutritional strategies to meet their goals. Milk itself and dairy based supplements have an established role in some of those strateges and recent research indicates potential for an increased role. Protein supplementation is common practic and viney rs a preferred source. Recent clinical studies in power and endurance athletes have demonstrated perform- ance and recovery improvements and a reduction in upper respiratory tract infoctions using concentrated bovine colos trum protein powder(intact as compared with whey protein concentrate. Dairy contributes positively to the health and performance of people engaging in sport