Knowledge on sports nutrition among student-athletes in Perlis

Abstract

Introduction: Sports nutrition is essential to improve exercise performance and maintain healthy body composition. However, the knowledge of balanced nutrition often being neglected by student-athletes and coaches. Aims: This study aimed to investigate sports nutrition knowledge across gender and level of participation. Materials and Methods: The participants were 178 university student-athletes (96 males and 82 females) actively competing in various individual and team sports. The student-athletes completed a sports nutrition knowledge survey to determine the adequate score (mean >75%). Results: The overall sports nutrition knowledge was inadequate (61.6% ± 13.1%), specifically only 29 student-athletes who obtained >75% or higher. Male student-athletes score slightly higher than females (62.4% vs 61.6% score), respectively. However, there is no significant difference between gender and level of participation (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference between the level of participation (P > 0.05). Conclusions: There was inadequate sports nutritional knowledge among student-athletes regardless of gender and level of participation. The intervention to enhance sports nutritional knowledge and a balanced diet is important for health and optimal athletic performance. Future studies are needed to examine athletes' behaviour and nutritional intake before training or competition.