Nutritional Knowledge of NCAA Division 1 and 2 Males and Females Tennis Athletes

Introduction Tennis is an intermittent sport that includes game phases alternated with recovery phases, highly impacting the metabolism. Especially for tennis athletes, appropriate nutrition is necessary to fuel their heavy training loads, maintain health, and aid in performance. Research indicates that the nutritional knowledge of athletes is minimal, and dietary behaviors may hinder health status and athletic performance. Purpose This study aimed to investigate the nutrition knowledge, eating habits, and use of supplementation in NCAA Division 1 (D1) and 2 (D2) collegiate tennis athletes. A secondary aim was to assess if they are knowledgeable enough to make appropriate dietary choices to match their performance and health needs, and to examine the sources of nutritional information. Methods Athletes recruited were divided into groups depending on sex and competing division. An 8-section survey was used to explore demographic characteristics, nutrition knowledge, eating habits, and use of supplementation. Results 153 schools were invited and 13 participated, including 36 individual athlete responses. 16.1% of nutrition knowledge and sport nutrition questions were answered correctly by at least 60% of the participants. An average of 32.6% understood macronutrients contained calories. 63.9% participants claimed they should drink 3 liters of fluid or more/day, but only 30.6% followed that. 16.7% were aware of the appropriate fluid intake in the two hours post-exercise. Females showed a better understanding of the use of macronutrients. Internet search was the main source of nutrition information for all participants. 50% of D2 relied on nutritionist or dietician regarding nutrition information vs. 14.3% of D1, perhaps reflecting that D2 had slightly better knowledge than D1. Conclusion Participants showed poor nutrition knowledge, regardless of sex and the division. These findings reinforce the importance of developing strategies to improve athletes’ nutrition education to aid in proper nutritional intake. Keywords: sport nutrition, athletes, tennis, nutrition knowledg