Association of eating disorders, menstrual dysfunction and socio cultural attitudes towards appearance in Indian female athletes

Abstract

Background: Eating disorder (ED) such as restrictive eating and menstrual dysfunction (MD) is a serious Health related problem which threatens the female athletes. Menstrual dysfunctions are Estimated to affect around 20% of female athletes. Social pressure to remain thin for various Sporting activities can lead to decreased self-esteem, negative effect, and unhealthy weight Control practice. Fewer studies have examined the relationship between eating disorder, menstrual dysfunction, and social cultural attitudes towards appearance in Indian Female Athletes. Objective: To examine the association among ED, MD, and Social cultural attitudes towards appearance and to estimate the risk associated with ED in Indian Female athletes. Methods: The study subjects consisted of 78 female athletes competing in various sports of 15-27 years of age. Athletes were administered Eating attitude Test- 26, Low energy availability in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q) and Sociocultural Attitudes towards appearance uestionnaire- 4 (SATAQ-4) after anthropometric testing. Results: Karl Pearson coefficient & Logistic Regression analysis was used to find the association between EAT- 26 and other variables.