Nutrition knowledge of high school athletes

The purpose of this study was to see where high school athletes are receiving their nutrition information and if they acquire proper nutrition knowledge. The athletes' sources of nutrition information, scores on the nutrition knowledge questionnaire, and the five groups of questions were analyzed by year in school, gender, and primary sports (top 6 primary sports for the questionnaire and 5 groups). 139 high school athletes completed a nutrition knowledge questionnaire. There was a statistical significance for teammates, gender, and primary sports. Thirty (21%) participants answered 19 questions or more correctly on the nutrition knowledge questionnaire. There was no statistical significance for year in school, gender and top 6 primary sports on the nutrition knowledge questionnaire. Nutrition education needs to focus on educating athletes about the importance of carbohydrates in athletics, servings sizes for the five food groups and hydration, so that athletes know how to plan a proper diet.