Analysis of the diet, weight-loss behavior, and nutritional knowledge of athletes and coaches in weightclass sports: influence of a coach’s nutritional knowledge on athletes

Background This study was conducted to investigate the nutritional knowledge of elite athletes undergoing weight loss and to identify differences in weight-loss strategies according to nutritional knowledge.Methods The participants included 22 coaches and 88 elite athletes registered under the same affiliation. The survey involved translating the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ), and interviews were used to confirm the diet and weight loss patterns of the athletes. The coaches and athletes were divided into high-rank (12 coaches and 57 athletes) and low-rank (10 coaches and 31 athletes) groups based on GNKQ scores. Paired t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic regression analysis were performed.Results GNKQ results showed significant differences between high-ranking and low-ranking coaches (p