Nutrition Knowledge of Division I Student-Athletes at a Private Four -Year Institution

Effective nutrition education can result in an increase in nutrition knowledge among college Student-Athletes (SA) who often lack adequate nutrition knowledge related to health. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess SA nutrition knowledge in two cohorts with the first cohort assessment prior to hiring a part-time sports dietitian (RD) and the second cohort assessment four-years later. A validated Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (NKQ) was emailed to all registered SA (cohort 1=358; cohort 2=399) who were participating on 16 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams. The part-time sports RD provided individual or small group counseling sessions and nutrition education. The NKQ section II- Sources of Foods/Nutrients was significantly different between the two cohorts, 38.3 ± 14.9 vs. 32.9 ±14.1, p = 0.02. On average, nutritional counseling was provided to 173 athletes and 10.5 teams out of the 16 teams that participated in team nutrition education over the four-y...