Changes In Dietary Habits And Attitudes Of Collegiate Athletes Enrolled In A Nutrition Course

Even though they have a high physical activity level, collegiate athletes can have low nutritional knowledge and may not consume a proper diet. This misalignment of dietary practices and requirements could be the result of collegiate athletes being unaware of the nutrient content of the food they are typically consuming. PURPOSE: To determine the effect of a college level nutrition course to alter the dietary habits and attitudes of collegiate athletes. METHODS: Twenty-seven collegiate athletes (17 male, 10 female) participated in the study. At the beginning of a Principles of Human Nutrition course, athletes completed an online dietary health questionnaire (DHQ) that asked about dietary habits and choices for the previous month. The athletes also completed a battery of linear scale questions (1 to 5 range) to gauge their dietary attitudes, including if they put effort into having a good diet (EF) and how much they believed their diet influences their health (DH). Both assessments were then repeated at the end of the semester. RESULTS: Data from both assessments were compiled and analyzed as a pre/post format using paired sample t-tests. The DHQ results are reported as per day values and showed that the athletes had significant improvements in sodium consumption (Pre = 3917 ± 3093 mg, Post = 2958 ± 1893 mg, p = 0.05) and the amount of added sugars (Pre = 91.7 ± 81.7 g, Post = 58.9 ± 45.8 g, p = 0.03). Conversely, no significant change in percentage of energy from added sugars (Pre = 14.1 ± 9.9%, Post = 12.0 ± 5.5%, p = 0.30) and percentage of energy from saturated fats (Pre = 12.1 ± 2.8%, Post 12.3 ± 2.8%, p = 0.76) were found. Additionally, no changes in dietary attitudes were observed with EF(Pre = 3.7 ± 1.0, Post 3.6 ± 0.9, p = 0.64) and DH (Pre = 4.6 ± 0.9, Post = 4.7 ± 0.6, p = 0.63). CONCLUSION: This study indicates that taking a nutrition could be useful in changing the dietary habits of collegiate athletes without changing their attitudes. Also, even though improvements in dietary behaviors were found, many of the intake values still did not meet recommended amounts. Further research is needed to determine if this impact is long-lasting, can be replicated, and if nutritional values can be aligned to recommended amounts.