Assessment of Moroccan swimming coaches’ nutritional knowledge and self-reported nutrition recommendations: A cross-sectional study

Background: Sports nutrition plays an important role in recovery, injury prevention, and athletic performance. Coaches often provide nutritional guidance that may influence athletes’ dietary practices.

Aims: This study aimed to assess sports nutrition knowledge among Moroccan swimming coaches, identify their primary sources of nutrition information, and describe their self-reported nutrition recommendations.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 110 Moroccan swimming coaches from five regional leagues. Data were collected using an online questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics, the adapted 49-item Sports Nutrition Knowledge Instrument (49-SNKI), self-reported nutrition recommendations, and sources of nutrition information. Knowledge scores and recommendation counts were compared across gender, age, educational level, coaching experience, and nutrition training using appropriate parametric or non-parametric tests. Holm adjustment was applied for multiple comparisons.

Results: The overall nutrition knowledge score was 30.13 ± 10.29/49 among coaches with complete responses (n = 106), corresponding to a normalized net score of 61.5%. Knowledge varied across domains, with the highest normalized score for micronutrients (82.9%) and the lowest for hydration (52.7%). No statistically detectable differences in overall knowledge were observed by gender, educational level, nutrition training, age, or coaching experience. Most coach characteristics were also not associated with detectable differences in self-reported carbohydrate, protein, fluid, or fat recommendation counts. Nominal differences by nutrition training for carbohydrate and fluid recommendations were no longer significant after Holm adjustment. The Internet was the most frequently reported information source (61.8%), followed by club or federation documents (27.3%).

Conclusion: Hydration showed the lowest normalized net score and may warrant particular attention in future continuing education. Most sociodemographic and professional characteristics were not associated with detectable differences in overall knowledge or self-reported recommendations. The predominant use of the Internet highlights the need for continuing education, particularly on hydration and critical appraisal of online information. The quality and adherence of self-reported recommendations to established sports nutrition guidelines could not be determined.