Survey of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices and its influencing factors in elite athletes of East Azerbaijan province

Introduction: The nutritional status of an athlete is a major determinant of health, fitness and sports
performance, so the purpose of this study was to Investigation of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and
practices and its influencing factors in elite athletes of East Azerbaijan province. Methods: In this study, 240
male and female athletes were assessed. Method of collecting data was a KAP questionnaire with 4 parts filled
out by interview. In part one, demographic characteristics and in the following sections, nutritional
knowledge, attitudes and practices level of athletes was studied. One-Sample T test, Pearson correlation
coefficient, multivariate Regression, Independent sample t-test and one way ANOVA were used for analysis.
Results: The results showed that athletes had a moderate knowledge and practices but their nutritional
attitudes were relatively low. Nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of athletes were significantly
lower than other major (p<0.05). Also there was a significant positive correlation between nutritional
knowledge, attitudes and practices (p<0.05). Age, sex and educational level were influencing factors on
knowledge and practice. Conclusion: The data indicate that nutritional status of athletes of East Azerbaijan
province were moderate or relatively low. All of the athletes, in particular, men and teens need more
theoretical and applied nutritional education.