Beyond training: determinants of nutrition knowledge among athletes in Hungary

Nutrition knowledge is crucial for athletes' performance and health, yet data on Hungarian athletes are limited.

This study assessed sport nutrition knowledge and its influencing factors among 1,335 athletes (132 elite, 1,203 recreational; 54.3% male; mean age = 22.74 ± 8.11 years) using the Hungarian Abridged Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (ANSKQ-HU) alongside sociodemographic, sport-related, and perception-based variables. Analyses included Kruskal-Wallis H-tests, Mann-Whitney U-tests, MANCOVA and Kendall's tau correlations.

Overall, 63.37% of athletes scored in the poor nutrition knowledge category (< 50%). No significant differences were observed by gender, sport level or prior nutrition education. Education level significantly affected sports nutrition knowledge, with higher-educated participants showing better fundamental and overall understanding than those with primary education. These findings were independent of training frequency and age, with medium post hoc effect sizes (d = 0.31 - 0.35). Weekly training hours and age were weakly correlated with FEP (fundamentals of nutrition, energy requirements of physical activity, and prohibited substances) subscale (p < 0.01) and total scores (p < 0.01). Participants valuing healthy eating scored higher on FEP (χ² = 30.840, p < 0.001, η² = 0.022) and total ANSKQ-HU (χ² = 22.612, p < 0.001, η² = 0.015). Access to both nutrition information and dietitian support improved MPE (micronutrients and performance-enhancing sports nutrition) (U = 71,395, Z = 3.28, p = 0.001) and UM (utilization of macronutrients) scores (U = 68,231, Z = 3.75, p < 0.001).

Our findings highlight the need for structured nutrition education and dietitian access in sports organizations. Importantly, as the data were collected exclusively from Hungarian athletes, these results reflect country-specific characteristics and should be interpreted within the Hungarian sport and educational context.