The relationship between nutrition knowledge and low energy availability risk in collegiate athletes

Sydney Burger; Alexandra Bray; Brian Kim

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2024.03.010

The relationship between nutrition knowledge and low energy availability risk in collegiate athletes

J Sci Med Sport. 2024 Apr 11:S1440-2440(24)00107-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2024.03.010. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Sydney Burger¹, Alexandra Bray², Brian Kim³

Affiliations

¹ UC Irvine SOM, United States of America. Electronic address: smburger@hs.uci.edu.
² OHSU Hillsboro Department of Family Medicine, United States of America.
³ UC Irvine Department of Family Medicine, United States of America.

PMID: 38664149
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2024.03.010

Abstract

Objectives: This was a pilot study that examined the relationship between nutrition knowledge and risk for low energy availability (LEA) in NCAA athletes.

Methods: Athletes (64.4 % female, 35.6 % male) completed the Abridged Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (A-NSKQ) and either the Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q) or Male Athlete Triad (MAT) screening questions.

Results: Females at risk for LEA had higher nutrition knowledge, demonstrated by higher A-NSKQ scores, than those classified as low risk (16.5 vs 14.5, p = 0.01). There was a very weak correlation between MAT and A-NSKQ scores (R² = 0.012).

Keywords: Athletes; Health education; Relative energy deficiency in sport; Sports; Surveys and questionnaires.