The effect of nutrition education on the nutrition knowledge of college athletes

Abstract

The relationship between nutrition and athletic performance has become a topic of increasing interest in college athletics. This study assessed the effect of nutrition education on the nutrition knowledge and dietary adequacy of female and male college athletes through a pre-test/post-test, control group design. Six weekly lessons were offered to the experimental groups. For female athletes, a two sample t-test indicated significant differences on gain scores for the experimental group (p<0.02) and mean differences (post minus pre-test) between experimental and control groups (p<0.03). For male athletes, no significant differences on gain scores for the experimental group (p<0.9) or the control group (p < 0.8) were found. No significant improvements in nutritional adequacy of the diet were noted for female or male athletes. Nutrition education provided through small group lectures resulted in a significant improvement in nutrition knowledge for female athletes.A different educational approach to enhance nutrition knowledge for these male athletes may be warranted.