Assessing Intentions to Eat a Healthful Diet Among National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Collegiate Athletes

Context: Many athletes fail to obtain the optimal levels of energy and nutrients to support health and performance. The constructs underlying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) may help identify barriers to healthful eating that can be addressed in nutrition-education programs. Objective: To use the TPB to examine factors regarding collegiate male and female student-athletes' intentions of eating a healthful diet. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Online survey tool. Patients or Other Participants: The survey was taken by 244 male and female National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II athletes, and data from 201 were analyzed. Mean age of the athletes was 20 +/- 1.31 years (range, 18-24 years); most were white (86.1%) and female (78.6%). Main Outcome Measure(s): We assessed predictive strength of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on behavioral intentions. Regression analysis evaluated how the variables of TPB were valued and how they predict behavioral intentions. Results: The combination of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls accounted for 73.4% (R-2) of the variance in behavioral intention (F = 180.82, P < .001). Attitude had the greatest influence on behavioral intentions (beta = .534, P < .001). Conclusions: Understanding both the intentions of collegiate athletes to eat healthfully and how highly they value nutrition is crucial for the development of effective nutrition education and counseling programs.