Paul Foley

Introduction: Adequate nutrition plays a key role in the competitive athlete. Failing to meet the increased energy requirements needed to support high levels of physical activity can be detrimental to both performance and long-term health. Club sports athletes do not have access to nutrition education and counseling services in the same way that varsity athletes do. Therefore, club sports athletes may be at a greater risk for nutrition-related knowledge deficits that negatively impact their performance and overall health.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was 1) to assess the nutrition-related knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors of athletes on the SUNY Oneonta Women’s Rugby team and 2) to evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition education curriculum designed to improve athletes’ nutrition knowledge and health behaviors.

Methods: Members of the SUNY Oneonta Women’s Rugby team were invited to participate in this research study. Participation was voluntary and informed consent was obtained from all participants before data collection began. Pre- and post-tests (n=21 questions) were used to assess baseline nutrition-related knowledge and to evaluate the effectiveness of the nutrition intervention. The nutrition intervention included three nutrition education sessions conducted via Teams with the women’s rugby team. The intervention covered a variety of topics including dietary intake, health behaviors, and athletic performance. Each session was approximately 25 minutes in length.

Results: The average score on the knowledge test significantly improved after the intervention (p<0.001). Overall, results from the pre-test suggested that club sports athletes had knowledge deficits related to vitamins/minerals and macronutrient functions. After the intervention, all students were able to accurately answer the questions about carbohydrates, proteins, and fats and connect each macronutrient to nutrition performance. Students were also able to communicate the negative side effects of relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S).

Conclusion: Club sports athletes do not have access to formal nutrition education in the same way that varsity athletes do. However, nutrition plays an equally important role in the physical performance and overall health of club sports athletes. This study suggests that club sports athletes may have misconceptions about the way nutrition impacts their life. This short, 3-module intervention improved the women's club rugby team’s ability to assess nutrition related knowledge. Club sports athletes may benefit from formal nutrition education programs such as this one. Since funds are typically limited for club sports programming, nutrition education programs may be able to be successfully adapted to an online platform for wide distribution.

Funding Sources: College at Oneonta Foundation and the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association