Body Weight Concerns and Dieting Practices of Female Collegiate Athletes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the body weight concerns and dieting practices of female collegiate athletes participating in aesthetic, endurance, and team/anaerobic sports. Participants consisted of 425 female athletes from 7 universities across the United States. Body weight concerns and dieting practices were assessed by the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), the Eating Disorder Inventory Body Dissatisfaction Subscale (EDI-BD), and a weight and dieting history questionnaire. Athletes in aesthetic sports weighed less (55.2±5.8 kg) than athletes in endurance (64.1±11.0 kg) and team sports (65.8±8.5 kg) (P<0.001), and reported a lower desirable body weight (52.9±5.3 kg vs. 61.2±8.6 kg and 62.4±7.3 kg, respectively) (P<0.001). The EDI-BD scores were similar for the groups (aesthetic: 10.7±7.5; endurance: 9.1±7.4; team: 10.9±8.1) More athletes in aesthetic (79%) than endurance (55%) and team sports (36%) reported experiencing pressure to maintain a certain body weight (P<0.001). A similar percentage of athletes in aesthetic (5.6%), endurance (4.8%), and team sports (3.1%) reported a clinical diagnosis of anorexia or bulimia. However, athletes in aesthetic sports scored higher on the EAT-26 (13.5±10.9) than athletes in endurance (10.0±9.3) or team sports (9.9±9.0) (P=0.018); and more athletes in aesthetic (28%) vs. endurance (13%) or team/anaerobic sports (13.5%) scored above the EAT-26 cut-off score of 20 (P<0.05). More athletes in aesthetic vs. endurance and team sports reported using extreme weight control methods including very-low-calorie-diets, fasting, vomiting, and laxative abuse (P<0.05). These results suggests that body weight concerns and dieting remain prevalent among female collegiate athletes, particularly those competing in aesthetic sports. While the incidence of clinical eating disorders is similar among athletic groups, athletes in aesthetic sports may be more at risk for subclinical eating disorders than those in endurance or team sports.