Are exercise professionals fit to provide nutrition advice? An evaluation of general nutrition knowledge.
OBJECTIVES
Registered exercise professionals (REP) are trained to provide structured exercise recommendations and general nutrition advice to healthy clients. However REP provide specific nutrition advice beyond their scope of practice, including diet-disease advice. The present study aims to investigate the level of general nutrition knowledge of REP, and compare this to a sample of community members (CTM), and university trained dietitians (DN).


DESIGN
Age-matched REP, CTM and DN were recruited to complete the previously validated revised-general nutrition knowledge questionnaire.


METHODS
Total nutrition knowledge score and section scores were compared between REP, CTM and DN. The impact of sex, age, level of education, and years' experience on nutrition knowledge was investigated.


RESULTS
A total of 554 participants completed the questionnaire (REP, n=161; CTM, n=357; DN, n=36). The DN group performed significantly better overall (DN, 91.2±4.6; REP, 78.4±9.6; CTM, 75.4±11.3) and for knowledge of dietary guidelines (DN, 82.3±20.7; REP, 80.5±15.5; CTM, 80.0±14.1), nutrient content of foods (DN, 92.6±4.4; REP, 80.9±9.9; CTM, 75.7±12.0), and diet-disease relationships (DN, 91.4±9.7; REP, 65.4±18.0; CTM, 68.6±11.1) compared to the REP and CTM groups (p<0.001). Sex, education and age were all significant predictors of total nutrition knowledge (p<0.0005).


CONCLUSIONS
Total nutrition knowledge and knowledge of diet-disease relationships is limited in REP. Encouraging REP to work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team, including DN, will assist in providing optimal client care in achieving health and body composition related goals.
['McKean|Mark|M|', 'Mitchell|Lachlan|L|', "O'Connor|Helen|H|", 'Prvan|Tania|T|', 'Slater|Gary|G|']
D000328:Adult D003376:Counseling D004032:Diet D015444:Exercise D005260:Female D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D018673:Nutrition Policy D052756:Nutritional Sciences D064686:Nutritionists D011361:Professional Competence D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D055815:Young Adult
Exercise professionals Nutrition knowledge Scope of practice Diet-disease relationship