NUTRITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, DIETARY INTAKE AND NURITIONAL STATUS OFATHLETES UNDERTAKING TRAINING IN NANDI COUNTY

Abstract

Training and competing in sports involve a range of activities of varying energy demands.
Athletics is one of the sports where athletes might face a challenge in balancing their individual
energy needs due to inadequate dietary intake and restriction of energy intake to maintain a low
body mass and fat level. In addition, understanding of the required practice of sports nutrition will
contribute to optimal athletic performance. This study intended to assess the nutrition knowledge,
nutritional status and dietary intake of athletes in selected training camps of Nandi County.
A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed where four training camps were
purposively selected for the study. A total of 82 athletes were conveniently recruited into the study.
A self-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measuring equipment for weight and height
were used for data collection. Data was analysed using the statistical package for social sciences
(SPSS) version 23. Spearman correlation was used to check for correlations at a significance level
of 0.05. From the study findings, nearly all (98.8%) of the respondents had heard about sports
nutrition; of these, coaches were leading at 48.8% while nutritionists stood at 18.3%. Generally,
dietary intake was adequate. Over three-quarters (82%) of respondents had a normal BMI.
A Spearman correlation found no significant correlation (p>0.05) between nutritional status and
dietary intake as well as nutritional knowledge of athletes. The study indicated the highest source
of nutritional knowledge were coaches with nutritionists being among the least sourced. This might
have compromised the accuracy of information received. Therefore, it is crucial for nutritionists
to take lead and at the same time coaches, sports managers and scientists be furnished with
guidelines on sports nutrition in order to guarantee that athletes are given appropriate and reliable
information.