Nutritional Knowledge of UK Coaches

Nutrients

Emma Cockburn²  Alistair Fortune¹  Marc Briggs¹ 

[1] Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Tyne and Wear NE1 8ST, UK; E-Mails:;London Sport Institute, Middlesex University, London NW4 4BT, UK

关键词: sport nutrition knowledge;    nutrition training;    coaching;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nu6041442

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Athletes obtain nutritional information from their coaches, yet their competency in this area is lacking. Currently, no research exists in the UK which has a different coach education system to many other countries. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the sports nutrition knowledge of UK coaching certificate (UKCC) level 2 and 3, hockey and netball qualified coaches. All coaches (n = 163) completed a sports nutrition questionnaire to identify: (a) if they provided nutritional advice; (b) their level of sport nutrition knowledge; and (c) factors that may have contributed to their level of knowledge. Over half the coaches provided advice to their athletes (n = 93, 57.1%), even though they were not competent to do so. Coaches responded correctly to 60.3 ± 10.5% of all knowledge questions with no differences between those providing advice and those who did not (p > 0.05). Those coaches who had undertaken formal nutrition training achieved higher scores than those who had not (p < 0.05). In conclusion, UK sports coaches would benefit from continued professional development in sports nutrition to enhance their coaching practice.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.