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Original article

Nutritional Knowledge and Behavior Among Students Practicing Sports: Comparison Between Two Countries

By
Gabriele Trabucco ,
Gabriele Trabucco
Maja Nikoić ,
Maja Nikoić
Bojana Vuković Mirković
Bojana Vuković Mirković

Abstract

Nutrition plays a very important role in every physical fitness program. Despite many advances in nutritional knowledge and dietary practices, sports nutrition-associated issues are still a challenge. The aim of this study was to determine and compare nutritional knowledge and behavior among the youth practicing sports situated in two different European countries. Young athletes (n = 84), aged 18-40 years from two different schools of medicine, situated in Turin (Italy) and Niš (Serbia), were included in the study. The participants completed two-part questionnaire about nutritional knowledge and behavior. The collected data was coded and used for evaluation.  The results revealed that the overall nutritional knowledge score of the Italian students (49% of all examinees) practicing sports was 66.7% compared to the Serbian students who also had good nutritional knowledge - 63%. The average number of meals was four per day, with lunch as the most frequent meal and about 30% of all examinees ate out “more than four times a week”. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups concerning the sources from which the students obtained nutritional information: 26% of the Italian students obtained nutrition-related information from parents and 21% of them from their trainers. The main sources of obtaining nutrition information among Serbian participants were internet (29%) and school (24%). Besides a positive attitude towards nutrition, good nutritional knowledge was observed in students practicing sports in Italy and Serbia.

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Citations

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3

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Maja Nikolić, Martina Nikolić, Bojana Vuković-Mirković

(2014)

Fruits and vegetables intake in pharmacy students in Niš

Hrana i ishrana, 55(2)

10.5937/HraIsh1402059N

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PW Kamande, P Bukhala, SO Konyole

(2022)

Nutritional knowledge and practice of elite rugby players in Kenya

African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 22(4)

10.18697/ajfand.109.22385

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Isti Dwi Puspita Wati, Jeki Haryanto, Y Touvan Juni Samodra, Dwi Riyanti, Asry Syam, Didi Suryadi, Suratmin Suratmin, Norma Anggara, Maria Herlinda Dos Santos, Hezron Alhim Dos Santos

(2024)

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Fizjoterapia Polska, 24(1)

10.56984/8ZG2EF8D9s

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