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222 / Juzwiak and Ancona-Lopez International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2004, 14, 222-235 © 2004 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. Evaluation of Nutrition Knowledge and Dietary Recommendations By Coaches of Adolescent Brazilian Athletes Claudia Ridel Juzwiak and Fabio Ancona-Lopez The objectives of this study were to describe the dietary practices recommended by coaches working with adolescent athletes and to assess their nutritional knowledge. During a regional competition in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, 55 coaches were interviewed. These coaches represented 22 cities with athletes enrolled in Olympic gymnastics, tennis, swimming, and judo events. A 3- section questionnaire was used to obtain data on demographic characteristics, dietary recommendations, and nutrition knowledge. Results showed that all coaches recommended general dietary practices during training, with no spe- cific strategies for pre-, during-, and post-training periods. The main objectives of the recommendations for the training period were weight control and muscle mass gain. Deleterious weight control practices were recommended by 27% of the coaches. Specific dietary practices pre and post competition were recom- mended by 93% and 46% of the coaches, respectively. Participants responded correctly to 70% (SD = 3.2) of the nutrition knowledge questions, with no significant differences (p = .61) between sports. The knowledge test identified a tendency to overvalue proteins, excessively low-fat diets, and food myths. These findings indicate the importance of developing strategies that will en- hance the nutritional training of coaches. Key Words: nutritional recommendation, sport, coaches During adolescence, defined by WHO (40) as the interval from 10