Examination of nutritional knowledge levels and eating habits of TEAM sports and weight athletes

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze the nutritional knowledge levels and eating habits of team sports and weight athletes. Materials and methods: The study group consisted of a total of 210 active athletes, 81 females and 129 males, aged 18-32, who are licensed athletes in clubs in team sports and weight sports in the Turkey in 2020-2021. In this study, a questionnaire method consisting of four parts, including personal information, health status, nutritional knowledge level and eating habits, was used. Frequency and percentage information of categorical variables, mean and standard deviation values of continuous variables were presented. In addition, the normality assumptions for the years passed with sports and weight variables were examined by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. It has been found that the variables analyzed do not have a normal distribution. Accordingly, the Mann-Whitney-U test was used in the analysis of variables with a level number of two. The relationship between the branch variable and all other categorical variables in the survey study was examined by Chi-square analysis. All analyses used in the study were conducted in the IBM-SPSS-21 program. Results: According to the data obtained from the subjects in the study, a statistically significant relationship was found between the answers given by the athletes for the branch to the question "What is the source of your nutritional knowledge?" (P = 0.034 * <α = 0.05). It was found that 40.95% of team sports and weight athletes received nutritional knowledge in line with the education they got. As a result of the analysis, a statistically significant relationship was found between the responses of athletes related to the branch regarding the question of "How many liters of water you consume daily on average?" (p=0.015 < α=0.05). Water consumption rate in both groups was determined as 53.33% corresponding to 1.5-2 liters. As a result of the chi-square analysis, a statistically significant relationship was found between the responses of athletes related to the branches regarding the question of whether they smoke and drink alcohol (p=0.050 <α=0.05). It was found that 62,86% of athletes smoke and consumed alcohol. Conclusion: When the nutritional knowledge and nutritional habits of team sports and weight athletes were examined according to the data obtained from the athletes in the study, it was found that the two groups had sufficient knowledge about their nutritional knowledge and food intake. However, their eating habits were poor in terms of athletic performance and athlete health.