Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42237980›Full record

ArticleJournal of nutritional science2026

Nutritional knowledge of team sport athletes.

Chris V McDonald, Emeir M McSorley, Andrea M McNeilly, Pamela J Magee

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of nutritional science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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

4 authors.

Chris V McDonaldNutrition Innovation Centre for Food & Health (NICHE), Ulster University, Coleraine, UK.
Emeir M McSorleyNutrition Innovation Centre for Food & Health (NICHE), Ulster University, Coleraine, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1861-3991
Andrea M McNeillySchool of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Ulster University, Belfast, UK.
Pamela J MageeNutrition Innovation Centre for Food & Health (NICHE), Ulster University, Coleraine, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0479-3314

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Adequate nutritional knowledge (NK) is an essential aspect of team sport athletes (TSA) meeting their nutritional requirements, yet limited research has examined the NK of TSA using validated tools. This study aimed to assess the NK of male and female TSA using the validated Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (NSKQ) which was administered via the online platform REDCap. A total of 920 athletes (male n = 576 [62.6%], female n = 344 [37.4%]) from a range of sports including, Gaelic football n = 576 (62.6%), hurling & camogie n = 133 (14.5%), rugby n = 107 (11.6%) and soccer n = 104 (11.3%) completed the study. Participants were recruited from elite (county, country, province, professional) n = 343 (37.3%) and non-elite (club, university) n = 577 (62.7%) teams. The mean total score was 50.4 ± 12.78%, considered 'average' using accepted cut-offs. Across sports, rugby players' total score was significantly higher when compared to Gaelic field sport athletes (p =.002). Scores in all NSKQ sub-sections fell within the 'average' or 'poor' category. NK was classified as 'poor' in the micronutrients (42.77 ± 19.89%), sports nutrition (46.93 ± 17.55%) and supplementation (35.42 ± 18.86%) sub-sections, with 'poor' scoring in these sub-sections observed across all sports. In this study, NK was sub-optimal in 89.8% (n = 826) of participants and although 74.9% of participants expressed a desire for access to nutritional resources, the majority (64.3%) reported having no such access, as indicated by participant responses from the demographic section of NSKQ. These findings suggest TSA may benefit from tailored nutrition education interventions to enhance NK, potentially improving dietary intake and subsequently health and performance outcomes.

Indexed as

AthletesHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeSports Nutritional Physiological PhenomenaTeam SportsAdolescentAdultFemaleGaelic FootballHumansMaleNutritional RequirementsSoccerSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultGAANutritional knowledgeRugbySoccerTeam sport athlete

Identifiers

PMID42237980
PMCPMC13227125

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

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.