Exploring the Association of Sport Nutrition Knowledge and Self-reported Physique Concerns on Eating Behaviours in Elite Athletes Receiving Individualized Sport Nutrition Support

The aim is to recruit 28 tier 4 and 5 elite athletes through the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network and National Sport Organizations between June 2023 and April 2024. Participants will be eligible for inclusion if they compete internationally for Canada at a sport event hosted by an International Federation on the Olympic program between 2020 and the time they complete the study protocol.

Study Design This will be a pre-test and post test quasi-experimental study for a duration of 12-weeks. When enrollment to participate is confirmed and informed consent is received , participants will complete the platform to evaluate athlete knowledge of sports nutrition questionnaire (PEAK-NQ), three factor eating questionnaire (TFEQ)-R18 (cognitive restraint eating subscale only), low energy availability male questionnaire (LEAM-Q) or low energy availability female questionnaire (LEAF-Q), a 5-day food intake journal food management questionnaire , athlete diet index questionnaire (ADI) , athlete food choice questionnaire (AFCQ) , surface anthropometry , resting metabolic rate assessment , dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan for bone mineral content and body composition, and DXA bone mineral density (regional). All measurements will be repeated on week 12 (final) to complete the assessment.

The project will be staged at the Institut National du Sport du Québec. It is a national multisport training and sport science/medical service institute for more than 10 national elite sport programs.

MEASUREMENTS AND STUDY INSTRUMENTS

Surface Anthropometry Anthropometric profiles, including body mass, standing height, bone breadths at 6 sites, girths at 5 sites and skinfolds at eight sites will be measured by a level III accredited anthropometrist from the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK) with a technical error of measurement of ≤ 2.0% for sum of eight skinfolds and ≤ 1.0% for all other measures. All measurements will be made on the right side of the body using ISAK techniques previously described (Stewart et al., 2011). Standing height will be measured using a stadiometer (Rosscraft, Surrey, BC, Canada), body mass on a calibrated digital scale with a precision of ± 0.1 kg (BWB-800S Tanita, Illinois, USA), girths with a flexible steel measuring tape (Rosscraft, Surey, BC, Canada), bone breadth with small bone caliper (Rosscraft, Surrey, BC, Canada) and skinfolds with a Harpenden calipers (Baty International, Burgess Hill, England).