Effect Of Academic Year And Major On Nutritional Knowledge In Division II Female Athletes

Athletes should make dietary decisions with the intent of fueling their bodies with the appropriate nutrients to maximize performance. Assessing nutritional competency allows sport scientists to gauge the importance of nutrition and identify deficiencies. Current research suggests that collegiate student athletes have little nutrition knowledge. This is problematic due to the increase metabolic demands placed on athletes during competition. PURPOSE: To assess year in school, area of study and history of previous nutrition class on sports nutrition knowledge. METHODS: All subjects were currently rostered DII athletes in Northeastern PA, 278 student athletes were identified as potential participants with 119 subjects completing the survey. The survey instrument used was the Sports Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire. Data was collected using google sheets, scored by the PI (passing score > 75%) and analyzed using SPSS V29. RESULTS: Results indicate that year in school underclassmen (n = 73) and upperclassmen (n = 46) show a non-significant (p = 0.071) positive trend in nutrition scores of 51.3% ± 10.9 and 60.1% ± 13.2. This suggesting more time in school may lead to greater exposure to nutrition information. Formal nutrition education did result in significantly (p = 0.006) higher scores on the survey with a mean score of 63% ±14, while those who have not taken a nutrition course had a mean score of 51% ± 10.1. Lastly, those within a major related to the health sciences (n = 45) had a mean score of 62.71% ± 12.7. In contrast, those outside of the Health Sciences (n = 74) achieved a mean score of 50.29% ± 10.23. Further analysis revealed a p-value of .038 indicating a statistically significant difference between groups. Although we did uncover significance to higher scores, it is important to note that only 8.4%, (n = 10) of the population passed the survey suggesting there are significant delinquencies in nutritional knowledge. CONCLUSION: Data suggests that female student athletes with formal nutrition education and/or are majoring in the Health Sciences have significantly better comprehension of nutritional needs for sport.