Improvements in Nutritional Management for Sports Program Students at Sarakhampittayakhom School, Mahasarakham

Abstract

Abstract

This experimental research aimed to investigate the improvements in nutritional management for sports program students at Sarakhampittayakhom School. The purposive sampling method was used to select 159 participants for the study. The participants were divided into three groups: directors and sport head coaches (4 participants), sports coaches (10 participants), and sports program students (145 participants). Data were collected from a nutritional evaluation questionnaire and physical performance tests. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics: frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and paired t-test, while qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis. The results are divided into two parts. 1. The improvements in nutritional management for sports program students consisted of 1) changing the weekly food menus to suit the needs of the students' bodies and allowing students to suggest menus; 2) training to educate and adjust consumption behavior; and 3) record form for evaluating nutritional status in students. 2. As a result of improving nutritional management for sports program students, the levels of health behaviors in food consumption and physical health before and after participating in the activities were not different. For the body composition test before and after the activity, it was found that the muscle circumference at the midline of the forearm was different at a statistically significant level (p<0.05). In addition, physical fitness tests before and after participating in activities It was found that sit-up was different at a statistically significant level (p<0.05). This was because students chose food other than the diet the program prepared. In addition, the study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic when training efficiency was lower than usual. Despite these limitations, the results still suggested that nutritional status and physical performance showed signs of improvement. Therefore, the results of nutritional management improvements for sports program students in this research can be integrated with the development of the curriculum of the sports program to promote the physical fitness of sports program students in the future.