Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item Improving menstrual health literacy in sport.(Elsevier B.V., 2023-07-19) McGawley K; Sargent D; Noordhof D; Badenhorst CE; Julian R; Govus ADMenstrual health represents a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being in relation to a woman's menstrual cycle. From a health literacy perspective, knowledge acquisition and expertise are dependent upon the degree to which an individual can find, access, understand, critically analyse, and apply health information. Therefore, menstrual health literacy can be used to describe the state of knowledge acquisition and application specific to menstrual health-related issues. Menstrual health literacy is low among female athletes, their coaches, and practitioners, and few evidence-informed education or implementation strategies exist to improve menstrual health literacy in sport. Moreover, athletes seldom discuss their menstrual cycles or hormonal contraceptive use with their coaches, despite experiencing menstrual symptoms and/or disturbances and perceiving their menstrual cycles/hormonal contraceptive use to affect performance. Barriers to communication about menstrual cycle- and hormonal contraceptive-related topics include a perceived lack of knowledge among athletes, coaches, and practitioners, concerns about how conversations on these issues will affect interpersonal relationships, and a lack of formal and informal discussion forums. Whilst evidence relating to the effects of the menstrual cycle phase and hormonal contraceptive use on training and performance is currently limited, with existing studies often lacking methodological rigour, impactful steps can still be made to support female athletes. This cornerstone review highlights the current state of menstrual health literacy among athletes, coaches, and practitioners, and provides recommendations for improving menstrual health literacy in sport.Item Athlete Preferences for Nutrition Education: Development of and Findings from a Quantitative Survey.(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2023-05-29) Solly H; Badenhorst CE; McCauley M; Slater GJ; Gifford JA; Erueti B; Beck KL; Nieman DCNutrition education (NE) is one of several strategies aimed at enhancing the dietary intake of athletes. This study investigated NE preferences of New Zealand and Australian athletes competing nationally and internationally. Athletes (n = 124, 22 (18, 27) years, female 54.8%) from 22 sports completed an online survey, with responses analysed using descriptive statistics. Teaching techniques considered 'extremely effective' were life examples (47.6% of athletes), hands-on activities (30.6%), and discussions with a facilitator (30.6%). Setting personal nutrition goals was important to most athletes (83.9%), along with two-way feedback with a facilitator (75.0%). General nutrition topics considered 'essential' were energy requirements (52.9%), hydration (52.9%), and nutrient deficiencies (43.3%). Performance topics considered 'essential' were recovery (58.1%), pre-exercise nutrition (51.6%), nutrition during exercise (50.0%), and energy requirements for training (49.2%). Athletes preferred a 'combination of in-person group and one-on-one sessions' (25% of athletes), 'one-on one sessions' (19.2%) and 'in-person group sessions' (18.3%), with only 13.3% interested in 'exclusively online delivery'. Sessions of 31-60 min (61.3% of athletes) held monthly (37.5%) and undertaken with athletes of the same sporting calibre (61.3%) were favoured by the participants. The preferred facilitator was a performance dietitian or nutritionist (82.1% of athletes), who had knowledge of the sport (85.5%), experience in sports nutrition (76.6%), and credibility (73.4%). This research provides novel insights into the factors that need to be considered when designing and implementing nutrition education for athletes.