Australian Football Athletes Lack Awareness of Current Sport Nutrition Guidelines

Trakman, Gina L.; Forsyth, Adrienne; Middleton, Kane; Hoye, Russell; Jenner, Sarah L.; Keenan, Stephen; Belski, Regina

doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0002

Cited by 22 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Lohman et al (2018) found that the majority of Australian footballers in their study over-consumed protein and under-consumed carbohydrate. The misunderstanding of nutrition advice revealed in our study is consistent with Lohman, Carr, and Condo (2018) and Trakman et al (2018) who found that Australian footballers' sports nutrition knowledge was "poor".…”

Section: Club Guidancesupporting

confidence: 88%

Life Skill Development and Transfer beyond Sport

Agnew

Jackson

Pill

et al. 2019

Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research

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The aim of this research was to investigate the current life skills education programs offered by the Australian Football League (AFL) for elite footballers in order to determine the retention of life skill knowledge and transfer beyond sport. Life skill education in sport is an increasing phenomenon. Life skills sport programs are capable of delivering positive outcomes when nurtured through a deliberately designed curriculum and purposeful teaching strategies. However, it is not known how life skills are learned and importantly what the impact of life skills education on long term behavioural changes is. It is apparent from the literature that there is a need to identify how knowledge is acquired and importantly retained through life skills education programs. This was a qualitative research project from a life history perspective. Twenty footballers who had been delisted from an elite Australian football club and had subsequently returned to a South Australian state-based football club took part in semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed through an inductive thematic analysis. Two themes emerged from the data: football related development and holistic development. It was clear that football clubs placed importance on the development of life skills that transfer beyond the sport. However, given the footballers in this research have not fully transferred into life after sport, their perception of the broader transferability of their life-skill development beyond sport is limited. This research concludes that the current format of life skill education (delivering content) that the players in this study were exposed to was not effective because the players failed to be able to make connections from the program to life outside of football. Therefore, the programs are unlikely to have any long-term benefit to player health and well-being during their post-elite football life.

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Section: Club Guidancesupporting

confidence: 88%

Life Skill Development and Transfer beyond Sport

Agnew

Jackson

Pill

et al. 2019

Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research

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“…While overall NK was poor, participants performed best in macronutrient, weight management and sports nutrition sections (Table 3 ). A detailed description of professional and recreational AF players’ NK, assessed using the NSKQ are reported elsewhere [ 29 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary intake of professional Australian football athletes surrounding body composition assessment

Jenner

Trakman

Coutts

et al. 2018

Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition

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BackgroundSports Dietitians aim to assist in improving performance by developing nutrition knowledge (NK), enhancing dietary intake and optimising body composition of athletes. In a high-pressure environment, it is important to identify factors that may compromise an athlete’s nutrition status. Body composition assessments are regularly undertaken in sport to provide feedback on training adaptions; however, no research has explored the impact of these assessments on the dietary intake of professional athletes.MethodsThis cross-sectional study assessed dietary intake (7-day food diary), nutrition knowledge (Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire) and body composition (Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) of 46 professional male Australian football (AFL) athletes during a 2017 pre-season training week (7 days) where body composition assessments were undertaken. Dietary intake was assessed against International Olympic Committee recommendations for professional athletes.ResultsOverall, no athlete met dietary their recommended energy intake (15 ± 1.1 vs. 9.1 ± 1.8 MJ, respectively) or carbohydrate recommendations (6–10 vs. 2.4 ± 0.9 g·kg-1·day-1). Only 54% met protein recommendations. Secondary analyses demonstrated significant associations between education status and energy intake (P < 0.04) and vegetable intake (P < 0.03), with higher levels of education being associated with higher intakes. A moderately positive association was observed between NK scores and meeting estimated energy requirements (r = 0.33, P = 0.03). NK scores were also positively associated with protein (r = 0.35, P = 0.02), fibre (r = 0.51, P = 0.001) and calcium intakes (r = 0.43, P = 0.004).ConclusionsThis research identified that the dietary intake of professional AFL athletes during a pre-season training week where body composition assessments were undertaken did not meet current recommendations. Several factors may influence the dietary intake of AFL athletes, including lower education levels, poor NK and dietary intake restriction surrounding body composition assessment. Athletes may require support to continue with performance-based nutrition plans in periods surrounding body composition assessment.

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“…Previous research has shown that Australian athletes have low NK scores and fail to comply with best‐practice sports nutrition guidelines . As NK is one factor that can influence nutrition behaviour, it is pertinent to explore the preferred information sources that athletes use, and how preferences influence NK.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 A sub-set of the NK data from study 1 is reported elsewhere. 8 For study 2, data were collected using the A-NSKQ; all the NK data from study 2 are reported elsewhere. 7 The questionnaires were self-administered online, making supervision impossible.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been postulated that the low NK scores could be explained by the use of questionnaires that have not undergone adequate validation . However, results from the newly developed and extensively validated Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (NSKQ) and Abridged Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (A‐NSKQ) found that mean NK scores of elite and non‐elite athletes were just 46% to 51% . Thus, it is unlikely that low NK scores are explained by the use of NK questionnaires that are not validated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Australian team sports athletes prefer dietitians, the internet and nutritionists for sports nutrition information

Trakman

Forsyth

Hoye

et al. 2019

Nutrition & Dietetics

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Aim To evaluate the information sources that are used and preferred by Australian athletes and to assess if preferences influence nutrition knowledge (NK). Methods Elite and non‐elite Australian team sport athletes, playing Australian football (AF), cricket, lawn bowls, soccer or hockey, were recruited via the sporting organisations' qualified sports dietitians or club presidents. Athletes completed one of two online, validated sports NK questionnaires. Frequency analysis on previous sources of advice, preferred sources of information and preferred type of support were assessed. Differences in NK scores (%) based on previous sources of dietary advice and preferences for obtaining information were assessed using t test or Mann‐Whitney U test. Results Demographic and information source questions were completed by 410 athletes; 331 also completed NK questions. Athletes were mostly non‐elite (76%) and AF players (79%). Forty‐four per cent of athletes reported having previously received advice from a dietitian. Twenty per cent, 19% and 16% of athletes chose “dietitian,” “internet” and “nutritionist” as their preferred source of nutrition information, respectively. Athletes preferred information on sports nutrition (35%), individual consultations (33%), and information on general healthy eating (33%), over cooking classes (4%) and group presentations (3%). There were no significant associations between preferred and previous information sources and NK scores. Conclusions Australian athletes prefer dietitians, the internet and nutritionists for sports nutrition information. There is an interest in and need for access to a qualified sports dietitian and reputable internet‐based nutrition information. Education programs and advice given to athletes need to be evaluated.

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Australian Football Athletes Lack Awareness of Current Sport Nutrition Guidelines

Cited by 22 publications

References 31 publications

Life Skill Development and Transfer beyond Sport

Life Skill Development and Transfer beyond Sport

Dietary intake of professional Australian football athletes surrounding body composition assessment

Australian team sports athletes prefer dietitians, the internet and nutritionists for sports nutrition information

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