Nutritional Knowledge Among Athletic Teams

The topic of sports nutrition has often been undermined in the athletic world. Practicing good nutritional habits has the ability to both improve performance and health. Several studies have examined nutritional knowledge among athletic teams; however very few have compared this knowledge among athletic teams. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of various athletes’ nutritional knowledge and evaluate the differences in this knowledge among NCAA Division II Athletic teams. A secondary purpose was to discover athlete’s confidence level in their nutritional knowledge as well as gain their opinion on how they would improve nutritional knowledge among athletic teams. Very few differences were able to be found between genders and athletic teams regarding nutritional knowledge. Also athletes overall did not score very high on the nutritional knowledge assessment. Additionally several beneficial suggestions were given on improving nutritional knowledge which include providing classes and having athletic trainers and coaches increase nutritional awareness. More research still needs to be done on this topic. However, steps should also begin to be implemented to increase the nutritional knowledge deficit among athletic teams with hopes of improving performance and health care of collegiate athletes

Parent perceptions of the quality of life of pet dogs living with neuro-typically developing and neuro-atypically developing children: an exploratory study

There is growing scientific and societal recognition of the role that pet dogs can play in healthy development of children; both those who are neuro-typically developing and those who live with a neuro-developmental disorder, such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. However, little attention has been paid to how living with children positively and negatively affects quality of life of a pet dog. In this exploratory study we conducted semi-structured interviews with parents of neuro-typically developing children (n = 18) and those with a neuro-developmental disorder (n = 18) who owned a pet dog, until no new factors were identified. Living with children brought potentially positive benefits to the dog’s life including: imposition of a routine, participation in recreational activities and the development of a strong bond between the child and the dog. The importance of maintaining a routine was particularly prevalent in families with children with neuro-developmental disorders. Potential negative factors included having to cope with child meltdowns and tantrums, over stimulation from child visitors, harsh contact and rough and tumble play with the child. The regularity and intensity of meltdowns and tantrums was particularly evident in responses from parents with children with a neuro-developmental disorder. However, child visitors and rough play and contact were mentioned similarly across the groups. Protective factors included having a safe haven for the dog to escape to, parent’s awareness of stress signs and child education in dog-interaction. Parents were also asked to complete a stress response scale to provide an initial quantitative comparison of stress responses between dogs living with the two family-types. Parents with neuro-typically developing children more frequently observed their dog rapidly running away from a situation and less frequently observed their dog widening their eyes, than parents with children with a neuro-developmental disorder. We propose the development of a stress audit based on the findings reported here, to prevent potential dangerous situations, which may lead to dog bites and dog relinquishment and allow owners to maximise the benefits of dog ownership