COMPARISON OF NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE AMONG MALE AND FEMALE COLLEGIATE ATHLETES

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate nutritional knowledge among collegiate athletes with emphasis on comparisons between male and female athletes. Six hundred and twenty-seven athletes (age: 19.45 +/− 1.67), 48.3/% of them female were included in the study. Nineteen sports from three division II schools in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference were represented. The assessment tool used was the Nutrition Knowledge Assessment (NKA). Questions were asked related to body image (10-point likert scale), general nutrition (true/false, multiple choice), and nutritional supplement use. Using the 10-point likert scale athletes rated their nutrition knowledge as a 6.7 with no difference between males and females. Athletes reported “some pressure” (5.8) on the 1–10 likert scale when asked about weight related to performance. Overall, 95/% correctly identified the appropriate amount of fluid ingestion (no difference between genders). Thirty eight percent of the athletes correctly identified the components of the food guide pyramid. Forty-one percent of males and 32.3/% of females reported a candy bar as a complex carbohydrate. Nutritional supplement use were also reported with 33.7/% of the athletes using Creatine, 5.8/% Chromium, 13.8% Ginseng, and 25.2/% Metabolic Bars. The top three choices among males were Creatine (44.1/%), Metabolic Bars (22.6/%), and Ginseng (15.4/%). Female's top choices were Metabolic Bars (29.5/%), Creatine (15.5/%), and Ginseng (11/%). Overall male athletes consumed more supplements. In general both males and female athletes had a fair base of nutrition knowledge, however additional information on supplement use may be warranted.