Sports Nutrition Association looks to tackle misinformation in the fitness space

Aiming to counter misinformation surrounding nutrition advice, the Sports Nutrition Association (SNA) is tackling the fitness space to try and prevent those who don’t have the necessary training from providing what it sees as information that might be potentially dangerous.

Headquartered in Australia, SNA was established as an overarching body to help regulate the fitness space with founder Alex Thomas envisioned standardising best practices worldwide.

With SNA now also operating in New Zealand, the USA, Europe and Asia, Thomas explains “training and nutrition often go hand in hand. Personal Training clients tend to ask their trainers for nutrition advice. However, not all personal trainers are certified to give advice.

“What’s right nutritionally for some people, may not be safe and helpful for others.

“I really felt the fitness space needed to be regulated.”

SNA not only provides provisional certification for personal trainers and coaches to consult on nutrition within their scope, but it also accredits those coaches so that clients can feel comfortable knowing that they can provide nutritional advice to some degree, and they are insured to do so.

“We offer a certification for coaches and personal trainers who want to be able to consult on sports nutrition within their scope with their clients.”

“Our certification takes around seven-months to complete, and once they complete it, they will become accredited with us on a provisional licence for three years. With that certification, they will have access to our insurance product so that they can safely practise within scope and they will be provided with additional education, which will require them to sit examinations each year so that they are always upskilling.

“Our certification is a provisional one that  lasts three years, so after three years we would expect them to get further education at university or with one of our partner educators, or they can deregister.

“We encourage education, but nutrition is an expensive degree. Our certification allows them to get their foot in the door and consult within the approved scope without forking out tens of thousands for university They can see if they like it with us, and then within three years they can decide whether they want to take their studies further or not. 

“If a coach already has a university degree or relevant education to get accredited, then they can come to us and gain both accreditation, and they can also purchase an appropriate insurance product through us to make sure they are covered to practise.”

Those who have undertaken the Sports Nutrition Association course will be eligible to be listed on their publicly accessed database. Clients who are in search of a personal trainer, exercise physiologist or strength coach who can also consult on sports nutrition can search the free registry to find trainers or coaches who they can rest easy knowing they are receiving science-back nutrition advice.

Thomas added “it’s important to always ask to see a personal trainer's accreditation and training history. Choose someone with real qualifications over ‘I learnt it from Dr Google’. It cost you nothing to access our database other than time.”

As a governing body to keep the fitness industry accountable to best practices, SNA also offer the ability to report someone who is breaching the nutrition code of conduct.

Here Thomas cites the 2021 case of an Adelaide personal trainer was banned from providing dietary advice having offered ‘unsafe practices’.

For more information go to www.sportsnutritionassociation.com