Socioeconomic Standards, Nutritional Knowledge and Dietary Habits of Ghanaian Athletes: A Study of Three Major Sporting Regions in Ghana

Abstract

Nutrition is essential in ensuring athletes’ optimum sports performance and good health. This study’s objective was to assess the socioeconomic (SE) standards, the nutritional knowledge, and the dietary habits of athletes across three (3) sporting regions in Ghana. Further, this study aimed to examine the relationship between the socioeconomic (SE) standards, the nutritional knowledge, and the dietary habits of athletes. The sample drew from football, hockey and basketball players. Data collection relied on an adapted Dietary Habits and Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire by Paugh, 2005, while examination of the relationships was done using chi-square tests of association, at 0.050 level of significance. The results showed that athletes had reasonably good nutritional knowledge and dietary habits, this highlighted by mean percentage scores of 69.42% and 66.26%, respectively. Assessment of athletes’ socioeconomic standards indicated that 80% lived on GHS1000 or less, per month. There were statistically significant relationships between sex and dietary habits, p=0.001; between sex and nutritional knowledge, p<0.001; between sporting disciplines and dietary habits, p=0.005; and between sporting disciplines and nutritional knowledge, p=0.021. Tests also revealed a statistically significant relationship between socioeconomic (SE) standard and nutritional knowledge, p=0.016. There was no significant relationship between athletes’ level of nutritional knowledge and their dietary habits, p=0.620. Neither did the study establish any relationship between SE standard and dietary habits, p=0.292. This suggests a need for more in-depth exploration of the relationship between the socioeconomic (SE) standards, nutritional knowledge, and dietary habits of athletes.