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Abstract

The objective of the study was to explore the existing knowledge, attitude and practices of Elite cricketers from Vadodara, India toward sports nutrition.Based on inclusion criteria, all elite cricketers from urban Vadodara were enrolled after consent.Semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on their knowledge, attitude and practices regarding sports nutrition.The study consisted of 81 Participants; 54 males, 27 females.Nutrition education booklet was developed and distributed to the participants followed by daily reinforcement of the key messages for 21 days.Impact evaluation was conducted after 2 months.Knowledge (Pre and post intervention scores), attitude and practices of participants regarding sports nutrition were assessed.According to the findings, over 89.3% of the respondents indicated that nutrition support is critical in their sport and over 86.7% believed that a nutritionist should be a member of their professionals' team.Only about 21% of them consumed solid foods within the recommended period of 30 minutes post-match.Sports drinks were consumed by 96% of the participants, protein by 44% and BCAA by 3%.In all the squads the post-intervention knowledge scores improved compared to pre-intervention (p<0.001),thus emphasizing the need of nutrition education.