A valid and reliable nutrition knowledge questionnaire for track and field athletes

Abstract

Background: Establishing an understanding of an athlete's nutrition knowledge can inform the coach/practitioner and support the development of the athlete. Thus the purpose of the study was to develop a psychometrically valid and reliable tool to assess general and sport nutrition knowledge. Methods: An 85 question questionnaire was developed in consultation with a panel of experts. Ninety-eight participants from the UK completed the questionnaire, and again 3 weeks later. The participants were classified into two groups: those with nutrition (NUT, n = 53) training (sport nutritionists and dietitians who were either practicing or undertaking a postgraduate qualification in the field), and those without (NONUT, n = 48) training (professionals and postgraduate students with no exposure to any form of nutrition training). The questionnaire was then administered to a pilot cohort of UK based track and field athletes (n = 59) who were requested to time how long it took to complete the questionnaire. Results: Psychometric statistical analysis of the results was completed, resulting in the removal of 23 questions for a total of 62 questions in the final questionnaire. The validated questionnaire was then administered to 58 track and field athletes. Internal consistency was assessed using Chronbach's alpha (α > 0.7), Pearson's correlation (p < 0.05) was used to assess reliability. Construct validity was evaluated using a t-test (p < 0.05). A total test retest correlation of 0.95 was achieved (sub-section range: 0.87-0.97). Internal consistency was accepted in each sub-section (α = 0.78-0.92) and the nutrition-trained group scored significantly higher on the overall questionnaire (80.4 vs 49.6%). The overall score for the athletic group was 61.0%. Conclusion:The questionnaire satisfied all psychometric measures and provides a new valid and reliable tool to assess general and sport nutrition knowledge of track and field athlete.

Validation of a General and Sports Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire in Italian Early Adolescents

“…These differences in knowledge score were statistically significant for the total questionnaire, but also for both the “General knowledge of nutrition” and “Sports nutrition” sections, thus demonstrating that our questionnaire can discriminate between adolescents with different knowledge levels. Similar to the present findings, in previous studies, people with potential differences in NK (e.g., dietitians versus other workers, students with or without a nutrition background) also showed higher NK compared to non-experts [ 4 , 16 ]. Other studies on sports nutrition evaluated possible differences between groups that received or did not receive nutritional education [ 15 , 16 , 35 , 38 , 50 ] but, in the majority of them, the participants were adults (i.e., college students or athletes) and not adolescents.…”

“…Comparison with previous questionnaires is tricky because of the differences between present and previously validated tools, for instance, in terms of the number of items, type of questions, and target populations. Among the studies validating questionnaires on general and sports NK, Furber and co-workers developed a 62-item questionnaire in a cohort of UK-based track and field athletes [ 16 ]. The authors compared NK between subjects with nutrition training (i.e., sports nutritionists and dietitians) and those without nutrition training (i.e., professionals and postgraduate students with no exposure to any form of nutrition training).…”

“…In the recent years, sports NK has also been investigated through specific questionnaires [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Sports nutrition can be defined as the application of NK to a nutritional plan focused on meeting the nutritional requirements for physical activity, optimizing the refueling process after physical exercise, and improving athletic performance in training and competitions, as well as promoting general health and well-being [ 21 ].…”

“…Regarding tools focused on sports NK, questionnaires have been validated in different populations, including both athletes and coaches [ 15 , 25 ]. Recently, some new sports NK questionnaires for adult athletes have been developed, targeting track and field [ 16 ], ultra-endurance running [ 15 , 20 ], or other sports [ 17 , 18 , 34 ]. Most of the questionnaires were validated in adults [ 16 , 17 , 34 ], and just a few in adolescents [ 15 , 35 ].…”

Psychometric Evaluation of the Persian Version of Dietary Habits Questionnaire and Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire for Adults Among Medical Staffs

“…The nutrition knowledge questionnaires developed so far have some limitations. Either they are weak in the area of psychometric validation or they target a limited area of nutrition knowledge (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). For example, Towler and Shepherd showed that their questionnaire has good internal reliability and construct validity (9).…”