Brief Education Intervention Increases Nutrition Knowledge and Confidence of Coaches of Junior Australian Football Teams

Abstract

This study evaluated the impact of a brief (20-min) nutrition education intervention embedded in an existing mandatory coach education course for coaches of junior (8-12 years old) Australian football teams. A total of 284 coaches (68% of 415 coaching course participants) completed a presession questionnaire, and 110 coaches (27% of coaching course participants) completed an identical postsession questionnaire. The responses to the pre- and postsession surveys were matched for 78 coaches. Coaches' ratings of their own understanding of the nutritional needs of young athletes (6.81, 8.95; p < .001), the importance of young athletes adhering to a healthy diet (9.09, 9.67; p = .001), their confidence in their own nutrition knowledge (7.24, 8.64; p < .001), and their confidence in advising young athletes on nutrition and hydration practices (6.85, 8.62; p < .001), all significantly improved following the education session. Nearly all coaches (>95%) provided a correct response to six of the 15 nutrition and hydration knowledge questions included in the presession questionnaire. Even with this high level of presession knowledge, there was a significant improvement in the coaches' nutrition and hydration knowledge after the education session across five of the 15 items, compared with before the education session. The results of this study suggest that a simple, short nutrition education intervention, embedded in an existing coach education course, can positively influence the nutrition knowledge and self-efficacy of community-level, volunteer coaches of junior sports participants.

Use of Resting Metabolic Rate Ratio as a Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports Indicator in Female Athletes

“…To our knowledge, such campaigns do not currently exist. One previous study added a nutrition session (delivered by a sports dietitian) to an existing training program for soccer coaches, which led to an increased knowledge and confidence regarding nutrition needs for their athletes [ 35 ]. Of course, this also emphasizes the need for sports dietitian positions to exist in all athletic departments, as recommended by a recent consensus statement [ 36 ].…”

Use of Resting Metabolic Rate Ratio as a Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports Indicator in Female Athletes

“…To our knowledge, such campaigns do not currently exist. One previous study added a nutrition session (delivered by a sports dietitian) to an existing training program for soccer coaches, which led to an increased knowledge and confidence regarding nutrition needs for their athletes [ 35 ]. Of course, this also emphasizes the need for sports dietitian positions to exist in all athletic departments, as recommended by a recent consensus statement [ 36 ].…”

Sports and Nutrition: A Scientometric Review

“…Coaches must have adequate nutrition knowledge and skills because they are frequently their athletes' most critical source of nutrition knowledge (Heikkilä et al, 2018). Accordingly, a brief nutrition education intervention integrated into an existing coach education course could improve nutrition knowledge (Belski et al, 2018). Thus, comprehensive sports nutrition education is vital to elevate sports coaches' competency in (Bentley et al, 2020).…”

Education and Diet in the Scientific Literature: A Study of the Productive, Structural, and Dynamic Development in Web of Science

“…In addition to a sedentary lifestyle, obesity is affecting a large part of the population because they do not follow the appropriate nutritional recommendations for a proper diet [3,4]. As a consequence of this worrying situation, educational centers are carrying out initiatives and training programs to encourage the promotion of dietary education with the aim of improving students' knowledge [6,7,[9][10][11] and to encourage an active and healthy life in order to reduce the possibility of suffering from certain diseases resulting from a poor diet [17][18][19].…”

Use of Resting Metabolic Rate Ratio as a Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports Indicator in Female Athletes

“…To our knowledge, such campaigns do not currently exist. One previous study added a nutrition session (delivered by a sports dietitian) to an existing training program for soccer coaches, which led to an increased knowledge and confidence regarding nutrition needs for their athletes [ 35 ]. Of course, this also emphasizes the need for sports dietitian positions to exist in all athletic departments, as recommended by a recent consensus statement [ 36 ].…”

Sports and Nutrition: A Scientometric Review

“…Coaches must have adequate nutrition knowledge and skills because they are frequently their athletes' most critical source of nutrition knowledge (Heikkilä et al, 2018). Accordingly, a brief nutrition education intervention integrated into an existing coach education course could improve nutrition knowledge (Belski et al, 2018). Thus, comprehensive sports nutrition education is vital to elevate sports coaches' competency in (Bentley et al, 2020).…”

Education and Diet in the Scientific Literature: A Study of the Productive, Structural, and Dynamic Development in Web of Science

“…In addition to a sedentary lifestyle, obesity is affecting a large part of the population because they do not follow the appropriate nutritional recommendations for a proper diet [3,4]. As a consequence of this worrying situation, educational centers are carrying out initiatives and training programs to encourage the promotion of dietary education with the aim of improving students' knowledge [6,7,[9][10][11] and to encourage an active and healthy life in order to reduce the possibility of suffering from certain diseases resulting from a poor diet [17][18][19].…”

Use of Resting Metabolic Rate Ratio as a Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports Indicator in Female Athletes

“…To our knowledge, such campaigns do not currently exist. One previous study added a nutrition session (delivered by a sports dietitian) to an existing training program for soccer coaches, which led to an increased knowledge and confidence regarding nutrition needs for their athletes [ 35 ]. Of course, this also emphasizes the need for sports dietitian positions to exist in all athletic departments, as recommended by a recent consensus statement [ 36 ].…”

Sports and Nutrition: A Scientometric Review

“…Coaches must have adequate nutrition knowledge and skills because they are frequently their athletes' most critical source of nutrition knowledge (Heikkilä et al, 2018). Accordingly, a brief nutrition education intervention integrated into an existing coach education course could improve nutrition knowledge (Belski et al, 2018). Thus, comprehensive sports nutrition education is vital to elevate sports coaches' competency in (Bentley et al, 2020).…”

Education and Diet in the Scientific Literature: A Study of the Productive, Structural, and Dynamic Development in Web of Science

“…In addition to a sedentary lifestyle, obesity is affecting a large part of the population because they do not follow the appropriate nutritional recommendations for a proper diet [3,4]. As a consequence of this worrying situation, educational centers are carrying out initiatives and training programs to encourage the promotion of dietary education with the aim of improving students' knowledge [6,7,[9][10][11] and to encourage an active and healthy life in order to reduce the possibility of suffering from certain diseases resulting from a poor diet [17][18][19].…”