Enhancing Sports Nutrition Knowledge in Adolescent Football Players

Authors : Gözde Şentürk, Zeyneb Yıldırım, Gökhan Deliceoğlu, Sine Yılmaz

Pages : 60-74

Doi:10.52528/genclikarastirmalari.1603750

View : 77 | Download : 222

Publication Date : 2025-12-25

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The aim of the current study is to examine the effect of nutrition education on the eating behaviors, eating awareness and sports nutrition knowledge of adolescent football players. The sports nutrition education module and the educational model to be used were developed by the researchers based on examples from sports nutrition books. The athlete questionnaire included sections on demographic information and eating habits. In addition, the eating awareness scale, the adolescent eating behavior perception scale and the athlete nutrition knowledge level test were administered to the athletes before and after the training. Twenty-five male soccer players aged 15-17 were included in the study. The six-week athlete nutrition training was delivered face-to-face by the researchers. After data collection, the SPSS 23.0 software package was used for statistical analysis. When the athletes’ nutritional habits were examined, significant improvements were found in post-training eating times (p<0.5). The education positively affected sports nutrition knowledge levels (t=-13.811; p<0.05). This study shows that a six-week nutrition education intervention significantly increased adolescent soccer players’ sports nutrition knowledge, while its effect on eating behavior was less pronounced. In light of these results, it can be suggested that nutrition education could also be directed at athletes’ parents to increase its impact on eating behavior.
Keywords : Beslenme Eğitimi, Futbol, Yeme Davranışı

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