Development of Sports Nutrition Educational Tools (NutriSportExTM): A Web-Application for Malaysian National Athletes.

Abstract

The use of electronics or technology, to improve the subjects’ knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) in nutrition or their compliance in recording their diet, for general primary care is not uncommon. However, there are more to be explored to improve sports nutrition KAP. The objective of this study was to develop a web app tool for athletes to increases their KAP in sports nutrition and to test on their acceptance towards the web app tool. This study was divided into 3 phases. Phase I involves the development of the web app. In Phase II, a focus group of 20 people was recruited to test the web app tool. Phase III was to evaluate the effectiveness of the web app in increasing athletes’ sports nutrition KAP and their acceptance of the web app. 30 athletes were recruited to use this web app for a week, a PRE- and POST-intervention KAP questionnaire were given. There was a strong correlation between athletes’ attitude towards this tool and intention to use in the future (r = 0.675). The more this web app tool was perceived as useful, the more likely they will visit the web app (r=0.589). Although the web app was well-accepted among the athletes, their KAP score was significantly reduced after the intervention (p= 0.011). The reduction of scores was due to the lack of consistent usage on the web app. In conclusion, it requires more facilitating support from the coach, longer training time, reminders and entertainment features for consistent usage, to improve the athletes’ KAP in sports nutrition via the web app.

Use of “Nutriatlet” smartphone application-based personalized nutrition program to improve energy consumption, body mass index, and body fat percentage among martial arts athletes

“…A personalized nutrition program has been shown on several occasions to improve anemia among marathon athletes 12) . Research in Malaysia showed that a web-based application could improve the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of athletes related to their diet and nutritional status 7) . The Malaysian research recommended an effective and sustainable nutritional instrument for improving compliance towards diet among athletes 7) .…”

“…Research in Malaysia showed that a web-based application could improve the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of athletes related to their diet and nutritional status 7) . The Malaysian research recommended an effective and sustainable nutritional instrument for improving compliance towards diet among athletes 7) . Such a supporting nutritional instrument might even be considered as important as a physical training program by coaches.…”

“…Therefore, the nutrition and energy intake should be maintained in order to support an improvement in the nutritional status, including body fat percentage. One of the methods to control energy and intake needs was the use of a computerized program 6,7) . This research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a personalized nutrition program, using the smartphone app Nutriatlet, in maintaining a balanced nutritional profile including energy consumption level, body mass index, and body fat percentage.…”

Malay Version of the mHealth App Usability Questionnaire (M-MAUQ): Translation, Adaptation, and Validation Study

“…Mobile health (mHealth) plays a vital role in delivering health education and disease management advice and in monitoring patients’ health in many ways [ 1 , 2 ]. mHealth development is beneficial not only for populations with diseases but also for active individuals, athletes, and older adults [ 3 - 6 ]. The 2 main factors that influence the effective use of mHealth apps for self-care are perceived usefulness and ease of use [ 7 ].…”