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Abstract
(1) Background: The preoccupation with the increasing appearance of eating disorders (ED) in athletes continues to grow, especially in athletes who practice team sports. ED severely affects the eating habits of the athletes, who tend to use unhealthy approaches to control their body weight. The development of nutritional education and early interventions by training staff is essential, and these factors are widely perceived as beneficial in sports medicine. This study evaluates the frequency at which beach handball (BH) players develop ED, also comparing the differences by sex and age (junior: adolescents vs. senior: young adults). In addition, the relation between body composition variables and ED was studied. (2) Methods: A descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in 69 top elite handball players (36 males and 33 females) from the Spanish National BH Team; who were separated by age (junior: adolescents and senior: young adults). The athletes completed the Eating Attitudes Test in its 26 item version (EAT-26). (3) Results: The prevalence of ED indicated that 11% of females had a high possibility of developing an ED, and 3% of males. Regarding the EAT-26 total score and subscales, no significant differences were found between female and male participants, or between the junior and senior categories. The correlations showed an association between body composition, in terms of body mass index, and the EAT-26 total score in both males and females. In the case of males, the correlation was negative. (4) Conclusions: Although there are no significant differences between sex or categories, it has been found that elite athletes are a population that is at high risk of developing ED.
Highlights
Eating disorders (ED) have a high probability of emerging in adolescence and adulthood rather than in childhood [1]
Standard deviations and means were calculated for the principal variables, for male and female beach handball (BH) players separately (Table 1)
The result of the evaluations showed that 14% (11% females and 3% males) of the BH players were prone to developing ED; this condition was not independent of nutritional status and body composition
Summary
Eating disorders (ED) have a high probability of emerging in adolescence and adulthood rather than in childhood [1]. In this sense, ED are serious public health problems due to the increasing incidence in the population and the diversity of associated symptoms [2], even producing self-injuries [3]. Suicidal behaviors and suicidal ideation have been found to be high in participants with ED [4]. They are associated with a high risk of low bone mineral density and fractures [5]. High scores for eating-disorder behaviors in childhood or adolescence significantly predicted eating-disorder behaviors in young adulthood [6] causing an increased risk of later depressive symptoms
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