Sports are not a man’s world: certainly not nowadays. That said, there remains certain elements in the culture of university sports that continue to favor men over women. Football culture, for example, is inherently androcentric. There is also a disproportionately greater number of male sports coaches for university level athletics than female coaches, even for female teams. There is a gender gap in the number of jobs held by men and women in all aspects of the Athletic Department at Boise State.
It remains important for women to have positive female role models in the world of sports.
That is why this week Her Campus Boise State was thrilled to interview Hilary Horton-Brown, RD, CCSD, CPT– the one and only Sports Dietition for the Boise State University Athletic Department.
As a registered dietition, Ms. Hilary has reached the pinnacle of what an individual has to accomplish to be able to practice dietetics.
She has been in her field for over 25 years, including 10 at Boise State.Â
Dietetics is an aspect of the health field that focuses on the relationship between nutrition and health. Sports dietetics in particular explores the link between nutrition and athletic performance.
Sports Dietetics is a relatively new, up-and-coming field. According to Hilary, there are only about 600 sports dietitions like her in the entire country.
“I love nutrition and there are just so many ways you can play with it,” Hilary said, “It’s fun to work with athletes becasue they are such a motivated clientelle. There are no “typical” work days for me here.”
Hilary works with student athletes on a plethora of different nutrition-related issues.
Hilary’s committment to her field does not stop at the office, however… she loves cooking and personal cheffing, and regularly invites groups of students over to her house to learn to cook. She takes groups of athletes on field trips to the grocery store to practice smart and healthful shopping.Â
“If a student has an issue with energy, or an injury, or they are looking to lose some body fat or build some muscle, they can come and talk to me. I talk to individuals one-on-one on the time, and I talk to teams. It’s really amazing to see the philosopy “you are what you eat” in action. When student athletes eat right, they perform better,” Hilary said.Â
Check out Hilary’s fun and informative Bronco Bites for the month of November to find out what YOU can do to eat healthy and eat right.Â
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