THE ROLE OF NUTRITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AMONG ATHLETES AND COACHES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the Role of Nutritional knowledge among athletes and coaches in the University of Benin. The study adopted the descriptive research design. The population of the study consists of 243 students athletes and 17 coaches of the University of Benin. A survey was conducted among 90 participants, 73 athletes and 17 coaches. The sampling technique applied was the simple random sampling. The participants filled a self-structured questionnaire which was validated by experts in the department of Human Kinetics and Sports Science, and was the research instrument administered by the researcher. The data was analyzed using the using frequency percentage and the mean and standard deviation. The study was able to find out the roles that Nutritional Knowledge plays among the coaches and athletes in the university of Benin, also clearly stated that these roles are important and positive. The study also found out that the knowledge of nutrition among coaches and athletees will definitely improve the performance of the athletes, and lead to the proper application of nutrition practices of athletes. The study recommended therefore that nutritional knowledge is important and there should be professional education for all athletes and coaches to avoid the wrong information to be disseminated to athletes in need of nutritional advice, and frequently nutritional knowledge should be put in use to put so that the athletes can attain optimal performance and be recognized among the other athletes in the nation.