An Investigation of Stress and Nutrition Knowledge Levels Among Elite Judo Athletes During Weight Loss Periods

Abstract

This study aims to determine the levels of perceived stress and nutrition knowledge among elite judokas during periods of rapid weight loss, to examine the relationship between these two variables, and to identify the effects of demographic variables—such as gender, age, years of participation in the sport, national team status, annual weight loss, and the amount of weight lost in a single session—on these levels. The sample of this study, which adopts the relational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, consists of a total of 166 elite judokas, including 72 females and 94 males, who participated in the Turkish Seniors and Juniors Judo Championships and experienced rapid weight loss before the competition. Data were collected using the General Information Form, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Nutrition Knowledge Level Scale. In the analysis of the data, independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Games-Howell post-hoc test, and Pearson correlation analysis were used; the significance level was accepted as p<0.05. The perceived stress mean score of elite judokas was determined to be 14.93±3.30, and the nutrition knowledge level mean score was 82.42±10.87; this result indicates that the participants possess a moderate level of nutrition knowledge. No statistically significant relationship was found between perceived stress and nutrition knowledge level. When examined in terms of the gender variable, it was determined that the perceived stress mean score of males was significantly higher compared to the mean of females. No statistically significant difference was detected between the groups in terms of nutrition knowledge level or the variables of age, years of sports participation, national athlete status, annual weight loss, and the amount of weight lost at one time (p>0.05). The findings reveal that the nutrition knowledge level of elite judokas remains at a moderate level during the pre-competition weight management process and that male athletes, in particular, experience high stress during the rapid weight loss period. In this regard, it is recommended that nutrition education programs be systematically integrated into training cycles. Future research involving longitudinal designs covering different weight-category sports will provide significant contributions to the literature.