(08-11-11) Evaluation of general nutrition knowledge in elite Australian athletes.

Spendlove JK, Heaney SE, Gifford JA, Prvan T, Denyer GS, O'Connor HT.
Source
Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate and benchmark the level of
general nutrition knowledge in elite Australian athletes (EA) against a similar
aged community (CM) and criterion sample with dietetic training (DT). EA (n
175), CM (n 116) and DT (n 53) completed the General Nutrition Knowledge
Questionnaire (GNKQ), which assesses four domains (sections A-D) of general
nutrition knowledge (section A: dietary guidelines; section B: sources of
nutrients; section C: choosing everyday foods; section D: diet-disease
relationships). Age, sex and education level were collected in all groups, and
athletic calibre and sport type (team or individual) in EA. Dietitians and
nutrition scientists (n 53) re-examined the GNKQ for content validity,
resulting in instrument revision (R-GNKQ; ninety-six items). Psychometric
assessment (internal consistency: Cronbach-?; test-retest: Spearman rank
correlation) was performed in a sub-sample (n 28). Independent t tests, ANOVA
and ANCOVA (?2 for categorical variables) were used to assess between-group
differences. DT scored higher than EA and CM in all sub-sections and overall (P
< 0?005). EA scored lower than CM in GNKQ for section B (P < 0?005) and overall
(P < 0?005), and in R-GNKQ for section B (P < 0?005), section C (P < 0?005),
section D (P = 0?006) and overall (P < 0?005). Overall score was influenced by
age (P = 0?036 for GNKQ: P = 0?053 for R-GNKQ), sex (P = 0?016 for GNKQ: P =
0?003 for R-GNKQ) and athletic calibre (P = 0?029 for R-GNKQ only), but not
level of education, living situation or ethnicity. EA and CM performed best on
section A and worst on D. EA had lower overall general knowledge scores than
CM. This was significantly influenced by age and sex.

Source:
Br J Nutr. 2011 Oct 10:1-10. [Epub ahead of print]

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