Date of Award:

12-2018

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences

Department name when degree awarded

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science

Committee Chair(s)

Heidi Wengreen

Committee

Heidi Wengreen

Committee

Natalie Norris

Committee

Dale Wagner

Abstract

The Fueling Station at Utah State University was created to provide pre-workout fueling and post-workout recovery foods to the Utah State University athletes. The athletes use an online survey to mark what foods they selected after each visit to the Fueling Station.

There is a large amount of research on the lack of sports nutrition knowledge in collegiate athletes, but there is little information on the dietary intake of athletes, the education of athletes, and the education of macronutrient timing in athletes.

A food labeling system named “Gain Your Edge” food labels that targeted the education of timing was created in the Utah State University Fueling Station. It lets athletes know which food choices might be the most appropriate choices for certain periods of timing (i.e. pre-workout versus post-workout). The Fueling Station was selected as an outlet for education because it reaches a large percentage of all Utah State athletes each week.

The survey responses by the athletes were used to determine if the fueling station visits were appropriate or not appropriate based on the reported timing of eating, purpose of eating, and food selections. After four weeks of implementation, it was determined that the food labels did result in significant changes in percentage of appropriate fueling station visits for the athletes. However, almost all the athletes noticed the food labels, and more than 75% of the athletes said that the food labels influenced their food selection. This research project contributes important information about the patterns of use in a University-sponsored fueling station to the limited knowledge base of collegiate sports nutrition research.

Checksum

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Included in

Nutrition Commons

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