Nutritional knowledge of youth academy athletes

Abstract

Background: Youth athletes are under increasing pressures to excel in their chosen sport and many turn to nutritional supplements in order to enhance sports performance. However, athletes may obtain their nutritional information via illegitimate sources such as the internet, media, and other athletes, representing miscommunication between sound scientific information and anecdotal experiences. The objective of this investigation was to examine nutrition knowledge of elite youth athletes from a non-residential regional academy of sport. Methods: A previously validated two-part nutrition knowledge questionnaire (NKQ) was administered to 101 (37 male and 64 female) non-residential regional Academy of Sport elite youth athletes at an annual training camp. Part 1 of the NKQ presented demographic questions. Part 2 presented 90 sports nutrition knowledge questions in seven knowledge subcategories (1) Nutrients; (2) Dietary reference intakes (DRI); (3) Fluids/ Hydration; (4) Recovery; (5) Weight gain; (6) Weight loss; and (7) Supplements. Results: The mean NKQ score of all athletes was 43.8% (± 11.4). No gender differences observed between nutritional knowledge total scores, however female athletes recorded more 'correct' responses than males (p = 0.02) in the Nutrients subcategory. Majority of athletes had difficulty identifying correct DRI with this subcategory featuring the lowest percentage of 'correct' to 'incorrect' responses (27.1% ± 2.3; p = 0.02). Supplements subcategory displayed much uncertainty with significantly more 'unsure' than 'incorrect' responses (42.4% ± 20.3; p < 0.05). Conclusions: In agreement with previous research, results of the current study indicate that elite youth athletes lack fundamental nutritional knowledge, specifically related to DRI and supplementation. These data provide further support of current recommendations that Academy of Sport youth athletes may benefit from integrated nutrition education conducted by qualified nutrition professionals.

A Glimpse of the Sports Nutrition Awareness in Spanish Basketball Players

“…Alternatively, this knowledge may be attributed to structures where nutritional recovery practices are imposed by the sporting structure itself [ 27 ]. In contrast, Bird and Rushton [ 85 ] observed in a recent study that the mean value of this knowledge did not reach the cut-off of 5 out of 10 players (U-18: 4.19 AU vs. Non-Pro: 5.52 vs. Pro: 4.5 AU).…”

A Comparison in Physical Fitness Attributes, Physical Activity Behaviors, Nutritional Habits, and Nutritional Knowledge Between Elite Male and Female Youth Basketball Players

“…Like our findings regarding player nutritional habits, no significant differences in nutritional knowledge were found between sexes in elite U-14 basketball players. These insights are novel for youth basketball players and are necessary to identify knowledge deficits regarding nutritional concepts that can be addressed in targeted educational interventions tailored to both sexes (Bird and Rushton, 2020). While these data are the first on this topic in basketball players, contradictory findings have been reported in other athletic populations.…”

Nutritional Knowledge and Ergogenic Aid Using Status of Competitive and Recreational Cyclists

“…The mean score was found as 65.5±12.2 out of 113 points. In addition, the mean score was reported as 43.8±11.4 out of 90 points by Bird et al (2020) when they used Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire to determine participants' nutritional knowledge (NKQ). In this study, 62.1% of CC had poor, 32.8% moderate, and 5.2% good sports nutrition knowledge.…”