Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40332617›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of nutrition2025

Nutrition knowledge, supplementation practices and access to nutrition supports of collegiate student athletes in Ireland.

Ben Leen Smith, Conor C Carey, Karen O'Connell, Shauna Twomey, Elaine K McCarthy

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Article in European journal of nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ben Leen SmithSchool of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Conor C CareySchool of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Karen O'ConnellSchool of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Shauna TwomeySchool of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Elaine K McCarthySchool of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. elaine.mccarthy@ucc.ie.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9809-1769

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo provide a comprehensive assessment of nutrition knowledge, supplementation practices and access to nutrition supports in third-level/university student athletes in Ireland.

methodsNutrition knowledge was assessed using the Abridged Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (ANSKQ), with additional questions on nutrition information sources, access to nutritional supports and supplement use.

results138 student athletes completed the online questionnaire. Participants had a mean (± SD) Total Nutrition Knowledge (TNK) score of 51.6 ± 13.7%, classed as "average". Scores were higher in the General Nutrition Knowledge (GNK) (61.4 ± 15.4%) sub-section, while Sports Nutrition Knowledge (SNK) scores (47.2 ± 15.5%) were considered "poor". Athletes that studied nutrition/dietetics at university level had higher GNK (69.9 ± 12.3% vs. 60.3 ± 15.5%), SNK (61.5 ± 13.7% vs. 45.3 ± 14.8%) and TNK (64.1 ± 11.8% vs. 50.0 ± 13.1%) scores than other students (all p < 0.05). Athletes with prior nutrition education/training also had significantly better TNK, GNK and SNK scores than those with no previous education/training (p < 0.001). Dietary supplements were used by 62.4% of participants, 64.0% of whom used 3 or more supplements. The most popular supplements were protein (77.9%), vitamin D (47.7%) and multivitamins (47.7%). Only 49.3% of participants had previous access to nutrition supports, but 80.4% of participants wanted more support.

conclusionsStudent athletes demonstrated inadequate levels of nutrition knowledge, particularly in the areas of sports nutrition, coupled with a high prevalence of nutritional supplement use. Athletes with higher education levels and prior nutrition education/training demonstrated greater nutrition knowledge, although a high desire for more nutrition supports was reported by the athletes in this cohort.

Indexed as

AthletesDietary SupplementsHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeNutritional SupportStudentsAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansIrelandMaleSports Nutritional Physiological PhenomenaSports Nutritional SciencesSurveys and QuestionnairesUniversitiesYoung AdultNutritional supplementsNutrition educationNutrition knowledgeStudent athlete

Identifiers

PMID40332617
PMCPMC12058917

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.