•  
  •  
 

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE AND BODY COMPOSITION CHANGES ACROSS A SEASON IN COLLEGIATE WOMEN’S SOCCER

Abstract

Nutrition is crucial for athletic performance, yet collegiate athletes often exhibit poor nutrition knowledge, hindering optimal dietary practices and outcomes. While many studies have explored collegiate athletes' nutrition knowledge, few have examined its impact on physical adaptations. Investigating how nutrition knowledge influences body composition changes during a competitive season can provide key insights into enhancing physical adaptations and athletic performance. PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between athlete pre-season nutrition knowledge and changes in body composition over a competition season. METHODS: Twenty NCAA Division I women’s soccer athletes (20 ± 2 y, 167.8 ± 6.5 cm, 64.4 ± 7.2 kg) participated in this study. Prior to fall training, athletes completed the Abridged Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (A-NSKQ) to assess general and sports nutrition knowledge. Body composition was assessed via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) pre-season and one week post-season. Spearman's rank correlations were used to examine relationships between A-NSKQ scores and DEXA-derived body composition measures (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Total A-NSKQ score showed a significant positive correlation with change in % body fat (ρ = 0.514, p = 0.017), as did general nutrition knowledge (ρ = 0.546, p = 0.011). No significant relationship was found between sports nutrition knowledge and % body fat change (ρ = 0.380, p = 0.089). Total A-NSKQ score (ρ = -0.448, p = 0.042) and sports nutrition knowledge (ρ = -0.468, p = 0.032) were negatively correlated with change in fat-free mass, while general nutrition knowledge was not significantly associated (ρ = -0.351, p = 0.119). CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals a surprising influence of nutrition knowledge on body composition changes over a competitive season in collegiate women’s soccer athletes. Specifically, higher nutrition knowledge at the start of the season was associated with less favorable changes in body composition. This may reflect insufficient university nutrition resources or a mismatch between perceived and actual dietary intake. Future research should explore the impact of resource access, dietary adherence, and the practical application of knowledge to improve athletes’ outcomes.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS