Impact of nutrition education programme and controlled dietary modification on nutritional status in young male athletes

Purpose

The current study sought to assess the synergistic effects of an eight-week nutrition education program (NEP) and controlled dietary modification (CDM) on the nutrition knowledge (NK), nutrition practice (NP), and daily dietary intake of nutrition counselling group (NCG) versus ad-libitum group (ALG), as well as to identify the dietary factors predicting athletes' NP.

Methods

A total of 105 male players (14–18 years) from the sports disciplines-football, hockey, swimming, and athletics-were block randomized into the NCG and the ALG. The NCG underwent an 8-week nutritional intervention (NI) that included NEP and CDM, while ALG did not participate in the NI and followed ad-libitum dietary intake. Primary data on each subject's NK, NP, daily food intake, and anthropometric measurements were collected before and after the intervention period for paired and case-control analysis.

Results

A strong association has been depicted between players’ NK and NP. Daily intake of carbohydrate, protein, calcium, and dietary fibre could be referred to as the significant positive predictors of NP, while fat intake is the negative predictor. The synergistic implementation of NEP and CDM reduced the energy deficits among the NCGby significantly increasing their daily calorie intake to an average of 97%. Protein intake was significantly increased, thus meeting 88% of the recommendation, while the increase in carbohydrate intake was insignificant, meeting 89% of the standards post-NI. Further, the NCG showed significant increases in intake of minerals like calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, and selenium, while the ALG had substantial reductions. The former also exhibited significant rises in vitamin A, B9, B12, C, and E intakes. The most significant spikes in macro and micronutrient intake were observed in the footballers and hockey players, who were also the groups with the largest increases in NK and NP scores.

Conclusion

The equilibrium in macronutrient bifurcations and relative macronutrient and micronutrient intake post-intervention indicates the effectiveness of nutritional enactment through an 8-week controlled dietary modification and systematic nutrition education programme on the nutritional status of young athletes. Therefore, good nutrition knowledge may improve the dietary patterns and nutrition intake of athletes. Intervention studies should emphasize nutrition education, aiming for improved athletic performance.