Nutrients

What Teen Student-Athletes Know About Nutrition and What They Think They Need to Eat

Updated

Abstract

Adolescent athletes displayed a poor sports nutrition knowledge level, answering only 45.1% of questions correctly on average.

  • No significant differences in nutrition knowledge were found between male and female athletes, with males averaging 45.1% correct and females 43.1%.
  • There were no observable relationships between nutrition knowledge scores and body composition measurements.
  • Athletes reported a lower perceived energy intake requirement, averaging 560 kcal/day less than calculated recommendations.
  • Self-reported carbohydrate intake needs were also lower than recommended, indicating a deficit of 73 g/day.
  • Conversely, athletes perceived their protein intake requirement to be higher than the calculated nutritional needs, averaging 263 g/day.

Simplified

Key numbers

45.1%
Nutrition Knowledge Score (Males)
Percentage of correct answers on the ASNKQ.
−560 ± 1272 kcal/d
Lower Perceived Energy Requirement
Difference between self-reported and calculated energy requirements.
263 ± 586 g/d
Higher Perceived Protein Requirement
Self-reported protein intake compared to calculated requirements.

Full Text

What this is

  • Adolescent student-athletes often lack adequate nutrition knowledge, impacting their dietary choices.
  • This pilot study assessed the nutrition knowledge and perceived dietary requirements of 44 secondary school athletes.
  • Findings indicate that athletes self-reported lower energy and carbohydrate needs compared to recommendations, while perceiving higher protein needs.

Essence

  • Adolescent student-athletes demonstrate poor sports nutrition knowledge and misperceptions about their dietary requirements, particularly underestimating energy and carbohydrate needs while overestimating protein needs.

Key takeaways

  • Athletes scored poorly on the Abridged Sports Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (ASNKQ), with males answering 45.1% and females 43.1% of questions correctly. No significant differences were found between sexes.
  • Self-reported energy intake requirements were lower by 560 ± 1272 kcal/d and carbohydrate requirements lower by 73 ± 376 g/d compared to calculated recommendations. In contrast, athletes reported a higher protein intake requirement of 263 ± 586 g/d.
  • Only 11% of athletes reported access to nutritional information or a dietitian, indicating a lack of support for improving dietary knowledge and practices.

Caveats

  • The small sample size of 44 limits the ability to generalize findings across different sports or athlete types. Additionally, the perceived dietary requirements questionnaire lacks validation.
  • Recruitment methods may introduce selection bias, affecting the representativeness of the sample in terms of socioeconomic status and ethnicity.

Definitions

  • Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs): A chronic state of low energy availability in athletes, leading to negative impacts on performance and health.

Simplified

Funding

Competing interests

The authors of this manuscript received no financial remuneration for preparing and reviewing this paper from outside sources. A.R.J. has consulted with and received external funding from companies that sell certain dietary ingredients. A.R.J. also writes for online and other media outlets on topics related to exercise and nutrition. None of these entities had any role in the design of the paper; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish this paper.
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