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Australian football athletes lack awareness of current sport nutrition guidelines
Trakman, Gina L. Forsyth, Adrienne Middleton, Kane Hoye, Russell Jenner, Sarah Louise Keenan, Stephen Belski, Regina
Trakman, Gina L.
Forsyth, Adrienne
Middleton, Kane
Hoye, Russell
Jenner, Sarah Louise
Keenan, Stephen
Belski, Regina
Abstract
Sports nutrition is an evolving field, but there is a lack of data on Australian athletes’ knowledge of current sports nutrition guidelines. Additionally, several tools used to assess nutrition knowledge (NK) have not undergone adequate validation. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the sports NK of elite and nonelite Australian football (AF) athletes using a newly validated questionnaire—The Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire. Elite AF players (n = 46) were recruited directly from their club dietitian and nonelite AF players (n = 53) were invited to participate via e-mail from their club president or secretary. The mean NK score of elite and nonelite AF players was 46 ± 16% and 51 ± 11%, respectively (p = .041). In both groups, knowledge of macronutrients, weight management, and alcohol was better than knowledge of supplements, micronutrients, and sports nutrition. Nonelite athletes achieved statistically significantly higher scores on the questionnaire subsections testing weight management (elite: 48 ± 18; nonelite: 57 ± 19, p = .019), micronutrients (elite: 39 ± 19; nonelite: 50 ± 16, p = .004), and alcohol (elite: 52 ± 13; nonelite: 71 ± 17, p = .002). While overall NK of Australian athletes was poor, scores varied greatly among individuals (range: 10–70%) and across the six subsections (topics) being assessed. Professionals working with athletes should undertake an assessment of the athletes’ NK so that they can provide targeted education programs.
Keywords
athlete, Australian football, nutrition knowledge
Date
2018
Type
Journal article
Journal
International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism
Book
Volume
28
Issue
6
Page Range
644-650
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled