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Running title: Nutrition standards in personal training.
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Title: An international comparison of nutrition education standards, occupational standards and scopes of practice for personal trainers.
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Original Research Article
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Authors:
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K. Barnes* (APD, MNutr&Diet) a,b, L. Ball (APD, PhD) a,b, B. Desbrow (APD, PhD) a,b
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a.
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b.
School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, 4222, Australia. Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, 4222, Australia.
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*
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Contact email:
[email protected]
Corresponding Author: Katelyn Barnes.
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Word count: 3814
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Abstract
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Personal trainers are well placed to provide nutrition care in line with their recommended
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scope of practice. However, providing nutrition care beyond their recommended scope of
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practice has been identified as an industry risk. The International Confederation of Registers
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for Exercise Professionals (ICREPs) have international standards for nutrition knowledge and
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skills that are recommended for all fitness professionals, including personal trainers. This
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study investigates whether the ICREPs standards align with i) national nutrition education
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standards and ii) national nutrition occupational standards and scopes of practice for personal
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trainers within ICREPs affiliated countries. Content analysis of each standard and/or scope of
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practice was undertaken to extract nutrition statements. Extracted statements were matched
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with nutrition components of the ICREPs standards to result in a score based on the number
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of aligned ICREPs knowledge and skills criteria. Ten countries, with 16 organisations, were
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identified as being involved in the development of national education standards, occupational
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standards or scopes of practice for personal trainers. The educational and occupational
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standards varied widely amongst countries and had minimal alignment with the ICREPs
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standards. As such, the expected role of personal trainers in providing nutrition care appeared
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to differ between countries. Further work is required to support personal trainers to develop a
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level of knowledge and skills that enables the provision of safe, consistent and effective
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nutrition care.
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Keywords: Nutrition, health promotion, personal trainers, occupational standards
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Introduction
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Personal trainers are a large workforce of fitness professionals who are well placed to provide
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a combination of physical activity instruction and nutrition care for healthy individuals and
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groups (Oprescu, 2012; De Lyon et al, 2016). Personal trainers may positively influence
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dietary behaviours and subsequent health outcomes of clients through the provision of
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nutrition care (Barnes et al., 2016a; Barnes et al., 2016b; De Lyon et al., 2016; Oprescu,
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2012). Nutrition care refers to any practice conducted by a professional in an attempt to
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facilitate improvements in an individuals’ dietary behaviours (Ball et al., 2012); and therefore
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encompasses all interactions around nutrition such as nutrition advice, nutrition counselling,
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nutrition education, conversations about nutrition and even nutrition related social media
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postings. Some aspects of nutrition care, such as dietary prescription and medical nutrition
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therapy, are complex and require specialised knowledge. Such examples of complex nutrition
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care are therefore considered to be inappropriate for personal trainers to provide due to a
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perceived lack of competence (Paul et al., 2014; Kruskall et al. 2017). Providing
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inappropriate nutrition care has been identified as an industry risk, due to the potential for
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negative client health outcomes (Keyzer et al., 2014; Paul et al., 2014; Kruskall et al. 2017).
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Clearly, strategies that facilitate personal trainers to develop nutrition knowledge and skills to
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provide safe and effective nutrition care, that is appropriate for their role, should be explored.
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Development of competence is usually supported through formal education and can be
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guided by competence models that align professional expectations of roles and
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responsibilities (Verma et al., 2006; Wise, 2008). In 2013, the International Confederation of
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Registers for Exercise Professionals (ICREPs) developed a competence model through a set
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of “Global Standards” for fitness professionals, including personal trainers (ICREPs, 2013).
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The Global Standards provide guidance on the development or reform of national standards
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for fitness professionals, underpinned by knowledge and skills required for safe and effective
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practice (ICREPs, 2013). The Global Standards include two components on nutrition
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specifically for personal trainers: C3. weight management and D3. The promotion of healthy
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eating and physical activity (ICREPs, 2013). However, it is unclear if the nutrition
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components of the Global Standards have been incorporated into national policies including
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education standards, scopes of practice, or occupational standards for personal trainers. Given
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that personal trainers are registered and trained nationally, incorporating global standards into
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national industry documents is important to develop and maintain consistent expectations and
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competence for personal trainers. This is especially pertinent as personal trainers have
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reciprocal practice across ICREPs associated countries.
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A review of policies for both nutrition education and practice guidelines of personal trainers
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would help to identify whether the Global Standards have been incorporated into the current
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regulatory environment in which personal trainers practice. A comparison of education
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policies may help to identify if personal trainers are supported to develop competence in
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nutrition care. In addition, a comparison of occupation specific policies may provide insight
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into appropriate boundaries for personal trainers with regard to nutrition care. The results of a
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policy review may help to inform and support future development and planning of national
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and international regulation for nutrition care provided by personal trainers. Therefore, this
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paper aims to (i) compare the nutrition components in formal education guidelines for
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personal trainers across ICREPs recognised countries and (ii) compare nutrition components
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within formal occupational guidelines for personal trainers to the ICREPs competence model.
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Methods
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A scoping review identified all nutrition guidelines for personal trainers from countries who
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have a registration body recognised as a full member of ICREPs in 2016. Institutional ethical
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approval was not required for this study. Figure 1 outlines the four steps undertaken to
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complete this review. The review was conducted independently by researchers from an
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Australian University who are not involved in the national registration or competency
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standards for personal trainers.
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