Increase In Sports Nutrition Knowledge Following An E-learning Education In Female Athletes

Although nutritional education interventions often require considerable time and human resources, e-learning-based nutritional education provides a convenient and location-independent alternative. We therefore developed an e-learning program in sports nutrition for athletes. PURPOSE: To elucidate the impact of a four-week e-learning-based nutritional education program on dietary intake, sports nutrition knowledge, and eating competence in female athletes. METHODS: In this study, two teams of participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention or control groups using cluster randomization. One female softball team assigned to the intervention group (n = 16; age 20 ± 1 years; body mass index 21.9 ± 1.8 kg/m2) received an e-learning education program. The other female lacrosse team, assigned to the control group (n = 39; age 20 ± 1 years; body mass index 21.9 ± 1.6 kg/m2), did not receive the education program. Female athletes in the intervention group received two identical nutrition education sessions via e-learning, each lasting 30 min. The sessions included five topics, presented in the following videos: 1) Conditioning, 2) Basic Diet, 3) Diet to Prevent Anemia, 4) Diet to Strengthen Bones, and 5) Diet for Weight Management. Habitual dietary intake, sports nutritional knowledge, and eating competence were assessed using questionnaires before the intervention (pre) and after four weeks (post). Changes in each variable were calculated by subtracting the pre-value from the post-value. RESULTS: The intervention group significantly improved their sports nutrition knowledge score compared to the control group (Δ1.3 ± 1.9 vs. Δ-0.2 ± 1.6, p = 0.007). No differences were noted in dietary intakes, but eating competence (global score) (Intervention group Δ2 ± 5 vs. Control group Δ0 ± 4, p = 0.051) and contextual skills (subscale score) (Intervention group Δ2 ± 3 vs. Control group Δ0 ± 3, p = 0.050) showed a tendency of significant differences between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that this e-learning program promoted increased sports nutrition knowledge among female athletes without needing multiple hour-long sessions and extensive human resources. Research funding for the female athletes from 2020 to 2021, the Japan Sports Agency