Analysis of Nutrition Knowledge After One Year of Intervention in a National Extracurricular Athletics Program: A Cross-Sectional Study with Pair-Matched Controls of Polish Adolescents

<b>Background:</b> Nutrition knowledge may be translated into adequate dietary intake and proper eating habits, so adolescent education programs focusing on improving eating habits and nutrition knowledge are needed. The aim of the cross-sectional study with pair-matched controls was to assess the Consumer Nutrition Knowledge Scale (CoNKS) results and its determinants after one year of intervention in a national extracurricular athletics program within a pair-matched sample of Polish adolescents. <b>Methods:</b> The #goathletics Study evaluated a Polish national extracurricular athletics program, 'Athletics for all', being a voluntary and free-of-charge physical activity program organized by the Polish Athletics Association. The study allowed comparing the intervention group of adolescents aged 10-14 years, participating in the program for at least 9 months (a school year) and a pair-matched group not participating in it, while the matching was based on city, gender, and age (each group: <i>n</i> = 506 adolescents, <i>n</i> = 281 females and <i>n</i> = 225 males). The nutrition knowledge was assessed using a Consumer Nutrition Knowledge Scale (CoNKS), and during the analysis, the following factors were taken into account: body weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). <b>Results:</b> The 'Athletics for all' program participation influenced not only the total CoNKS score (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) but also the scores in all studied areas-within procedural nutrition knowledge (<i>p</i> = 0.0002), declarative nutrition knowledge on nutrients (<i>p</i> = 0.0001), and declarative nutrition knowledge on calories (<i>p</i> < 0.0001), and program participants revealed a stronger understanding of all the studied areas compared to non-participating individuals. Gender, BMI, and central obesity tendency were not associated with the total CoNKS score (<i>p</i> > 0.05), or any of the studied areas (<i>p</i> > 0.05). The statistically significant differences in the number of correct answers were observed for four items within procedural nutrition knowledge, for four items within declarative nutrition knowledge on nutrients, and for four items within declarative nutrition knowledge on calories (<i>p</i> < 0.05), while for all of them, 'Athletics for all' program participants revealed a stronger understanding. <b>Conclusions:</b> One year of intervention in a national extracurricular athletics program significantly influenced the nutrition knowledge of the studied group of adolescents aged 10-14 years. While compared with the pair-matched control group of Polish adolescents, they were characterized by a stronger understanding of all areas of nutrition knowledge.