Sport NutritionExploring the Association of Sport Nutrition Knowledge and Self-reported Physique Concerns on Eating Behaviours in Elite Athletes Receiving Individualized Sport Nutrition Support

The Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) syndrome is common in high performance sports, and it impairs athletes' performance and health. The condition is caused by low energy availability (LEA). This means that the body does not have enough energy, after fuelling exercise, to support normal body functions. LEA weakens the structure of bone tissue and increases the risk of bone injuries, lowers your immune function, and increases risk of illnesses, lowers your metabolism, reduces reproductive hormones, and impairs muscle function.

More people are investigating the use of nutrition education programs and individualized nutrition support to improve nutrition knowledge and eating habits in elite athletes. Because the results from available studies look promising, more professionals are examining the effectiveness of different nutrition intervention strategies to improve energy and nutrient intake in athletes. At this point, we do not know if athletes who have higher nutrition knowledge have better eating habits to lower the risk of LEA. Moreover, we do not know what nutrition interventions are useful to improve food intake in athletes who do not eat enough calories for exercise.

With this study we hope to learn if individualized counselling in sport nutrition is associated with changes in eating habits and sport nutrition knowledge in elite athletes to enhance energy availability. It will also teach us if other factors are important to consider when relying on individualized sport nutrition counselling to lower the risk of LEA.

Main Aim: Investigate the differences in individualized nutrition counselling characteristics, sport nutrition knowledge and self-reported body weight and shape concerns between high and low eating behaviour change responders among tier 4 and 5 elite athletes.

Hypothesis: It is hypothesized that self-reported body weight and shape concerns will be negatively associated, and nutrition knowledge will be positively associated with changes in energy and carbohydrate intake in athletes receiving individualized nutrition counselling for 12 weeks.