Fuel for Thought: Examining the impact of a mealtime nutrition education program on nutrition self-efficacy and dietary intake of Division I NCAA football athletes

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  • February 28, 2019
Creator
  • Schiltz, Gregory
    • Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Nutrition
Abstract
  • Athletes have unique nutrition needs, and may see performance benefits and reduced potential for injury with proper meal timing and composition. However, it is apparent that many athletes do not consume a diet adequate to support their needs. Furthermore, most athletes rely on potentially unqualified sources, i.e. parents, teammates, coaches and athletic trainers for nutrition advice rather than dietitians. In recent years, some collegiate programs have employed dietitians to educate and improve the nutrition habits of their athletes hoping to boost performance, reduce injury rates and expedite recovery. While anecdotal evidence abounds, there is a paucity of data reflecting the effectiveness of dietitians and nutrition education on improving student athlete nutritional self-efficacy or dietary intake. The proposed study aims to implement a dietitian-focused intervention for a Division I football program that currently serves mandatory team meals but does not utilize a dietitian. The intervention will include the presence of a dietitian at team dinners over a 16-week period to provide nutritional information and implement a “point of decision” nutrition education system. A nutritional self-efficacy questionnaire and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) will be given to the experimental group before and after the intervention period. A control group of student athletes from another sport that also participates in mandatory team dinners will only complete the questionnaires. The results of this study will determine the effectiveness of a dietitian and nutrition education program with regards to improving the dietary intake and nutrition self-efficacy of student athletes.
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  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Makowski, Liza
Degree
  • Master of Public Health
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduation year
  • 2015
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  • ec6acc1f-dd30-446a-a923-ede8671f2c72

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