Department of Sports Nutrition

Department overview

Department of Sports Nutrition was introduced in the year of 1983 as a part of Faculty of Sports Sciences, NSNIS Patiala. Since then, the department is working towards providing wholesome nutritious food to national and international level athletes as well as educating coaches & athletes regarding importance of nutrition and correct food choices in sports. In the recent years department has launched One year Post Graduate Course in Sports Nutrition in collaboration with Punjabi University, Patiala. The department has also set up a research kitchen to initiate research in the area of sports food product development.

Main Focus

• To assess nutritional status of National camp and NCOE athletes through periodic testing
• To identify nutrition related issues in integration with other sports science departments and provide nutritional counseling and follow up services to athletes of National camp and NCOE
• To prepare cyclic menu for sports mess and monitor the quality of food being served at the mess
• To provide support in running various academic courses conducted by NSNIS, Patiala
• To conduct research in the area of Sports Food product development
• To prepare Nutrition education material for the athletes

Academic activities

Department has launched One year PG Diploma in Sports Nutrition in collaboration with Punjabi University from the academic session 2023-24.

• Department is also involved in teaching the following course:

  • M. Sc. (Sports coaching)
  • Diploma (Sports Coaching)
  • Various Certificate courses
  • Various Skill development courses
  • Various refresher courses
  • Various Sports Science Diploma Courses
  • Other short courses

• Internship programs

  • Department offers internships to M.Sc. Sports Nutrition Students varying from 3 months to 1 year in duration.

Testing parameters
Nutritional Testing, counseling and follow up

Nutritional testing is the foundation stone of finding any underlying nutrition related issues among the athletes. It includes dietary assessment, anthropometric assessment and biochemical assessment. For this purpose, department works in integration with other sports science departments. Body composition reports are obtained from sports anthropometry department and Biochemical reports are received from biochemistry department. Diet, fluid, supplement and activity pattern recall is taken using a semi structured questionnaire during interaction with athletes. Discussion with coaches and support staff is also a key feature to identify any nutrition and recovery related issue among athletes.

Interpersonal counseling is provided to young athletes for modifying and sustaining healthy dietary habits suitable for sportspersons. Major issues managed through interpersonal counseling among athletes are: weight and lean body mass gain, weight loss, recovery, hydration, energy and macronutrient imbalance, micronutrient deficiencies, periodized nutrition, competition nutrition etc.

Follow up is quite important for compliance and to monitor progress. Monitoring during follow ups is done through general discussion, diet recall/diary, questionnaires related to recovery, anthropometric measurements and biochemical assessment as per the goals of counseling.

Equipments

Mess

NSNIS Patiala has a well established mess to cater around 500 athletes with Modern facilities of cooking, storage and serving. Providing quality food with healthier options is one of the major tasks of nutrition department. Key activities involved to accomplish this goal is preparing monthly cyclic menu as per the budget and nutritional requirements, checking quality of the dry and wet items on regular basis. Feedback from coaches and athletes is received regarding the taste and quality of the food being served at mess.

Research

Recently a research kitchen has been established in the department to develop ready to eat food products which are easy to be prepared at mess and can be carried by athletes. Sensory Evaluation of the developed products is done by semi trained and untrained consumer panels before implementing it into the mess menu.
The department is also involved in guiding M.Sc. (Sports Coaching) students for the dissertation work.

Staff Members

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Academic Activities

Other departmental activities

Nutrition Education Material
Department has developed several posters, pla cards and booklets to educate the athletes.

Seminars Workshops

• Delivering lectures at national level seminars and workshops
• Attending international workshops to enhance the knowledge

Internship programs
Department offers internships to M.Sc. Sports Nutrition Students varying from 3 months to 1 year in duration.

Food quality check at multi sport events
Department has been involved in checking the quality of food at national level multi sport events like Khelo India, recently.

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Research Kitchen

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Food quality checking
At Khelo India Games

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Testing parameters