Effect of Nutrition Education on Energy Availability, Body Composition, Eating Attitude and Sports Nutrition Knowledge

Participants were randomly divided into two groups with 45 individuals receiving six physical nutrition education lectures, and the remaining 38 participants receiving no nutrition education. Participants completed the The low energy availability in females questionnaire (LEAF-Q), Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26) and Sports Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (SNKQ). Energy and nutrient intakes were evaluated thorough 3-day food records, while exercise energy expenditure was assessed using 3-day activity logs. All of the questionnaires were repeated after a 6-months period. At baseline, the prevalence of LEA among athletes was determined to be 63.8%. In the intervention group, energy availability (EA) and SNKQ scores increased, and LEAF-Q scores decreased significantly (p \< 0.05). However, there was no significant change in EAT-26 scores between the two groups. Energy intake, weight, fat free mass and resting metabolic rate has been increased significantly in the intervention group (p \< 0,05). These findings suggest that nutrition education proves beneficial in enhancing dietary intake, positively influencing body composition and improving nutrition knowledge, ultimately contributing to increased energy availability in female athletes over the short term.