title: Sports nutrition knowledge among collegiate athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, and strength and conditioning specialists.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Coaches, athletic trainers (ATs), strength and conditioning specialists (SCSs), and registered dietitians are common nutrition resources for athletes, but coaches, ATs, and SCSs might offer only limited nutrition information. Little research exists about sports nutrition knowledge and current available resources for nutrition information for athletes, coaches, ATs, and SCSs.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify resources of nutrition information that athletes, coaches, ATs, and SCSs use; to examine nutrition knowledge among athletes, coaches, ATs, and SCSs; and to determine confidence levels in the correctness of nutrition knowledge questions within all groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, II, and III institutions across the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 579 participants consisted of athletes (n = 185), coaches (n = 131), ATs (n = 192), and SCSs (n = 71).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants answered questions about nutrition resources and domains regarding basic nutrition, supplements and performance, weight management, and hydration. Adequate sports nutrition knowledge was defined as an overall score of 75% in all domains (highest achievable score was 100%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants averaged 68.5% in all domains. The ATs (77.8%) and SCSs (81.6%) had the highest average scores. Adequate knowledge was found in 35.9% of coaches, 71.4% of ATs, 83.1% of SCSs, and only 9% of athletes. The most used nutrition resources for coaches, ATs, and SCSs were registered dietitians.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, we demonstrated that ATs and SCSs have adequate sports nutrition knowledge, whereas most coaches and athletes have inadequate knowledge. Athletes have frequent contact with ATs and SCSs; therefore, proper nutrition education among these staff members is critical. We suggest that proper nutrition programming should be provided for athletes, coaches, ATs, and SCSs. However, a separate nutrition program should be integrated for ATs and SCSs. This integrative approach is beneficial for the continuity of care, as both categories of professionals might be developing and integrating preventive or rehabilitative programs for athletes.
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina, Blatt PE Center 218, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. torresmc@mailbox.sc.edu
authors.forename: Toni M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Torres-McGehee
authors.forename: Kelly L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Pritchett
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zippel
authors.forename: Dawn M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Minton
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cellamare
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sibilia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D011897:Random Allocation; D013177:Sports; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires