Abstract
BackgroundThe present study aimed to examine disordered eating behavior (DE) and self-reported eating disorders (ED) among Norwegian group fitness instructors.MethodsGroup fitness instructors from Norway (n = 685 females and 152 males, response rate: 57 %) completed an online survey. The survey included the instruments Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) and the Exercise Dependence Scale (EDS).ResultsA total of 22 % of the male and 59 % of the female respondents were classified with DE. The respondents classified with DE had higher BMI, more weight loss attempts, and higher total EDI score compared to the respondents with no DE. A correlation between EDI total score and EDS total score was found among both male and female group fitness instructors. No males and four percent of the females reported having a current ED. The instructors with self-reported current ED had higher weekly volume of instructing classes compared to the other instructors. None of the respondents with self-reported ED had informed their center manager about it.ConclusionThe high prevalence of DE behavior calls for concern. The reported secrecy regarding self-reported ED might decrease the possibility for early recognition and intervention. The findings reveal implications for the instructors’ physical and mental health, for their reputation and impact as important healthy role models and health/fitness authorities, and for the importance of prevention, identification and management of such behavior in fitness center settings.
Highlights
The present study aimed to examine disordered eating behavior (DE) and self-reported eating disorders (ED) among Norwegian group fitness instructors
The female instructors were younger and reported teaching on average more classes per week compared to the male instructors (Table 1)
DE behavior Twenty-two percent of the male respondents and 59 % of the female respondents were classified with DE behavior (Table 2)
Summary
The present study aimed to examine disordered eating behavior (DE) and self-reported eating disorders (ED) among Norwegian group fitness instructors. The fitness center industry has shown a vast growth for the past two decades, and the number of group fitness instructors is continuously increasing worldwide. Body dissatisfaction and dieting behavior are considered risk factors for the development of disordered eating behavior (DE) and eating disorders (ED) [4]. A high percentage of physically active women and athletes are reporting dieting and high degree of body dissatisfaction they are not overweight [5,6,7], and these two factors have been shown to predict ED in ballet dancers [8]. The majority of the instructors with self-reported ED in these studies reported remission
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