A needs assessment survey to identify nutrition knowledge deficits in graduating DI collegiate athletes for subsequent development of a pre-graduation nutrition education curriculum

Objective: The primary objective of this study is to determine what areas of nutrition knowledge are lacking among current student-athletes that should be the focus of future nutrition curriculum for graduating athletes. This study also aims to determine if there is an understanding among student-athletes of nutrient need changes that will occur after athletic retirement and whether athletes want nutrition education.

Methods: A cross-sectional needs assessment was conducted among student-athletes who anticipated graduating within the spring, summer, and fall semesters of 2020. A total of 83 student-athletes were eligible to complete the survey. Survey-collected data was analyzed using descriptive analyses.

Results: The average general nutrition knowledge score, sports nutrition knowledge score, basic culinary knowledge score, and overall score were 45.9%, 43.1%, 62.9%, and 44.8% respectively. Only 13.8% of participants were able to appropriately estimate current calorie needs, 3.8% were able to estimate future protein needs, and 11.5% were able to estimate future calorie needs. A majority of participants (73.1%) expressed interest in receiving some type of nutrition education.

Conclusion: The current assessment further builds on research suggesting a need for a nutrition education intervention for student-athletes. A majority of questions, when individually analyzed, were answered correctly by less than 75% of participants. These questions will guide the development of a nutrition education intervention tailored to the needs of this student-athlete population.