Nutritional Knowledge and its Association with Sociodemographic Characteristics in Fitness Club Members
Abstract
Nutritional knowledge is a key factor for adopting healthy eating habits, although evidence among fitness club members remains limited. This study aims to assess nutritional knowledge and its association with sociodemographic characteristics in practitioners of physical exercise in the context of a fitness club, in Portugal. This cross-sectional study was conducted at a fitness club at Portugal and included 40 participants (38.6 ± 14.4 years; 22 women and 18 men) recruited through convenience sampling. To assess nutritional knowledge, the instrument used was the validated Portuguese version of the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ). Sociodemographic data on sex, age, education level and marital status were also collected. Independent t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to assess differences in nutritional knowledge scores across sociodemographic groups. In this sample, older participants (>38 years) and women demonstrated significantly higher nutrition-related knowledge scores than younger participants and men (p = 0.047 and p = 0.013, respectively). Nutrition-related knowledge was associated with age and sex.
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