The effect of nutritional education on nutritional knowledge level and diet quality in volleyball players living in a disadvantaged area

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of nutritional education (NE) planned for volleyball players who live in a socioeconomically disadvantaged area on the level of nutritional knowledge and diet quality. The study was conducted with volleyball players between the ages of 9 and 14 who were studying in schools in disadvantaged areas of Istanbul between July 2022 and August 2022. NE was applied in 3 separate modules. As a data collection tool, the General Information and Nutritional Habits Questionnaire, from which information about the hypothesis of the study will be obtained, was used both pre- and post-NE. A 1-day (24-hour) food consumption record was taken from the study group at the beginning and end of the study. Again, at the beginning of the study, the Diet Quality Index (DQI-I) of the food consumption records was calculated to analyze the current diet quality of the players at the end. The nutritional knowledge level of 40 volleyball players participating in the study increased post NE (p0.05). There is no statistically significant difference between the total DQI-I scores (p>0.05). The 3-week nutrition education given as a result of the study, which was planned to examine the effect of nutrition education on the nutritional knowledge level and diet quality of volleyball players living in disadvantaged areas, caused a significant increase in the level of nutrition knowledge, while it did not create significant changes in the DQI-I. It is thought that the reason for this situation is related to socioeconomic level, the availability of high nutritional value food, and the level of nutritional knowledge of families. There is a need for necessary practices in the dissemination of nutrition education in the adolescent period.