Evaluation of General and Sport Nutrition Knowledge of Nairobi County Fitness

Abstract

Physical training and nutrition are inseparable, given their shared effects on health, fitness, and performance outcome. This relationship makes gym trainers a de facto player in nutritional counseling despite evidence of their low proficiency on the subject. In developed countries, gym trainers are highly regulated, and their roles, particularly in dietary practice, are dictated by the scope of their training. In Kenya (a developing country), gym trainers are hardly regulated, and their nutrition knowledge is unknown and undocumented, yet anecdotal evidence shows they are practicing it. Therefore, the overall aim of the study was to evaluate the general and sports nutrition knowledge of Gym instructors in Kenya. An invitation to participate in a survey was done with gym instructors participating in fitness course at the University of Nairobi. Twenty gym instructors (10 males and 10 females) nutritional knowledge was assessed using Fuber Robert’s general and sports nutrition knowledge questionnaires. The general and sports nutrition knowledge of Nairobi gym instructors was found to be inadequate 36.8% (95% CI: 7.4, 66.6), but they showed moderate knowledge in proteins (53.3%; 10.7) and fats (48.5%; 9.7). Poor sporting performance and supplementation knowledge were recorded (32.1%; 6.4). Nairobi female gym instructors demonstrated a consistently low general and sports nutrition knowledge in all the nutrition domains compared to their male counterparts, 33.6% (95% CI: 0.0, 75.1) and 39.6% (95% CI: 0.0, 82.5), respectively. Conscious efforts, including availing nutrition education resources, are needed to enhance the nutritional knowledge of Kenya gym instructors.