Nutritional Needs of Endurance Athletes Nutritional Needs of Endurance Athletes Essay

Nutritional Needs of Endurance Athletes                                                                                                      

Nutritional Needs of Endurance Athletes
A brief study

Dan Shafer

Sports Nutrition
May,06 2012

Research indicates that the nutritional knowledge of athletes is minimal. Dietary behaviors may hinder health status and athletic performance. The purpose of this study was to compare nutrition knowledge and attitudes of college athletes at a Southern university (N=190). Male and female athletes were surveyed from all sports. The study examined knowledge of current dietary recommendations, sources of nutrients, healthy food choices, and the relationship between diet and disease processes. Significant differences in overall knowledge were noted between athletes’ collegiate sports and genders. The majority of athletes at this university had healthy attitudes about eating behaviors, but low knowledge scores.

A problem facing America’s college youth today is the lack of available healthy fast foods or easily prepared foods. College students have little time and space when it comes to meal preparation within the confines of dorms, apartments, or shared housing. An additional concern is the knowledge needed to determine which food items to select. Current research indicates that as the athletes’ knowledge increases, nutritional quality of food choices improves (Kunkel, Bell, & Luccia, 2001).

Nutritional Education and Training (NET) programs are taught to children in most public schools (Sizer & Whitney, 2000), yet few college-age students understand even the basic concepts of nutrition by the time they reach a university setting (Cho & Fryer, 1974; Grandjean, Hursh, Manjure, & Hanley, 1981).

Student athletes with higher nutritional knowledge may obtain information to help increase performances and or maintain healthy or competitive weights (Barr, 1987). However, athletes participating in certain...