Nutritional knowledge of team sport athletes.

Abstract

Adequate nutritional knowledge (NK) is an essential aspect of team sport athletes (TSA) meeting their nutritional requirements, yet limited research has examined the NK of TSA using validated tools. This study aimed to assess the NK of male and female TSA using the validated Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (NSKQ) which was administered via the online platform REDCap. A total of 920 athletes (male n = 576 [62.6%], female n = 344 [37.4%]) from a range of sports including, Gaelic football n = 576 (62.6%), hurling & camogie n = 133 (14.5%), rugby n = 107 (11.6%) and soccer n = 104 (11.3%) completed the study. Participants were recruited from elite (county, country, province, professional) n = 343 (37.3%) and non-elite (club, university) n = 577 (62.7%) teams. The mean total score was 50.4 ± 12.78%, considered 'average' using accepted cut-offs. Across sports, rugby players' total score was significantly higher when compared to Gaelic field sport athletes (p =.002). Scores in all NSKQ sub-sections fell within the 'average' or 'poor' category. NK was classified as 'poor' in the micronutrients (42.77 ± 19.89%), sports nutrition (46.93 ± 17.55%) and supplementation (35.42 ± 18.86%) sub-sections, with 'poor' scoring in these sub-sections observed across all sports. In this study, NK was sub-optimal in 89.8% (n = 826) of participants and although 74.9% of participants expressed a desire for access to nutritional resources, the majority (64.3%) reported having no such access, as indicated by participant responses from the demographic section of NSKQ. These findings suggest TSA may benefit from tailored nutrition education interventions to enhance NK, potentially improving dietary intake and subsequently health and performance outcomes.