Effect of Nutrition Education on Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Sports Person with Special Reference to Zinc

Nutrition plays a very important role in attaining high levels of achievements in sports. Satisfactory nutrition knowledge becomes important to the practice of healthy nutrition habits and, consequently, more efficient to performance. Zinc plays a role in growth, building and repair of muscle tissue, energy production and immune status. Zinc status has been shown to directly affect thyroid hormone levels, basal metabolic rate, and protein use, which in turn can negatively affect health and physical performance. Methods -Ethical clearance was obtained from the Human Ethics Committee of PSG Institute of Medical Sciences. One hundred athletes performing various field and track events were selected (n=100) for KAP. An interview schedule was framed to conduct the study concerned with various aspects of food and nutrition by direct interview method by the investigator. Nutrition education was provided and the impact of nutrition education was found using the KAP questionnaire. Results - It was seen that the knowledge of sports person was quite low before nutrition education and had improved considerably after nutrition education as is evident.