Sport Nutritionist: A New Sport Education Role

Abstract

Considering the challenges associated with adolescent obesity and the need for innovative and meaningful physical education curricula, the authors of this article decided to create a new sport education role to help students learn about the fundamental nutritional concepts and practices that contribute to a healthy and active lifestyle. The new role, termed sport nutritionist, provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate responsibility and leadership skills by assisting the physical educator with creating and organizing nutritional materials and lesson concepts. The appeal of this role is that nutrition content can be interlinked with sport performance and physical fitness within the context of the sport education season being taught. This article provides a step-by-step approach to introducing the sport nutritionist role within a sport education unit. Nutrition topics, references and web links for reviewing material are provided.