1. IMPLEMENTATION OF NUTRITION EDUCATION
PROGRAM FOR COLLEGE ATHLETES
Alison Brown, RD, LD; Amelia Hillmer, RD, LD; Kimberly Pickerl, RD, LD; Lea Anne Lambert, MBA, RD, LD;
Anne B. Marietta, Ph.D, RD, LD; Ryan J. Johnson; Jason D. Wagganer, Ph.D
Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO email: ambrown7s@semo.edu
• Increase nutrition knowledge in athletes.
Objective
• A 12 week experiential, mandatory nutrition education program for collegiate athletes was implemented at
Southeast Missouri State University. Instructors were Registered Dietitians enrolled in graduate school. There
were 19 female softball players and 39 male baseball players between ages 18-23 (N=58). Teams met
separately for 30 minutes each week. Each session focused on a different topic utilizing handouts from
SCAN. Over half (n=29) had completed a university level basic nutrition course. Experiential learning was
used to engage participants with activities, including food group recognition races and campus dining tours.
Researcher-developed pre and posttests were used to measure changes in knowledge. Paired pre and posttests
from 15 participants were eliminated due to incompleteness.
Materials and Methods
• Softball and baseball teams, respectively, significantly improved knowledge of macronutrient contents of
foods, weight maintenance recommendations, and carbohydrate recommendations during exercise. Softball
athletes significantly improved knowledge of NCAA supplement regulations. Baseball athletes significantly
improved knowledge of MyPlate recommendations and fluid requirements.
Results
• A twelve week nutrition education program for college athletes significantly increased student nutrition
knowledge.
Significance
Session 1: Introduction, Pre-test, Building MyPlate
Session 2: Nutrition Facts labels
Session 3: Eating Healthy on Campus
Session 4: Offseason Fueling
Session 5: Eating Frequency
Session 6: Performance Hydration
Session 7: Fueling During Exercise
Session 8: Fueling for Recovery
Session 9: Eating on the Road
Session 10: Alcohol and Athletic Performance
Session 11: Dietary Supplements
Session 12: Foods to Promote Immune Function, Post-test
Session Topic Outline
Area of Improvement Softball
significance (p)
Baseball
significance (p)
Identifying macronutrient
content of food
0.038 0.043
Weight maintenance
recommendations
0.016 0.001
Carbohydrate recommendations
during exercise
0.006 0.001
NCAA supplement regulation 0.038
MyPlate recommendations 0.001
Fluid recommendations during
exercise
0.002