Dietary Practices and Perceived Body Images of Competitive Female Gymnasts

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: To assess the practices and the perceived body images of competitive female gymnasts with the use of the Eating Disorder Inventory. This study extended the Eating Disorder Inventory to a sample group of 121 competitive female gymnasts with a mean age of 10.7 participating in a camp at Louisiana State University. The primary purposes of the study were to assess the dietary practices and the perceived body images of the gymnasts and to compare eating disorder symptomology of the gymnasts to the established scores obtained by an eating disordered group and a female college sample group. Results revealed that the gymnasts as a group did not have eating disorder symptomology comparable to the eating disordered group, but they were similar to the college female sample. When broken down by age groups. however, the older gymnasts (ages 14–16), had mean scores on several of the subscales that were higher than the college female sample and some of the individual scores approached those of the eating disordered group. There was a positive correlation between body dissatisfaction scores and total eating disorder symptomology in the gymnasts, suggesting a relationship between body image and pathogenic eating behavior, especially in the older subjects.