PREVALENCE OF EATING DISORDERS IN MALE AND FEMALE ELITE ATHLETES.

Abstract

1469 The prevalence of eating disorders (ED) in female elite athletes is high and it has been argued that the pressure placed on young women to achieve or maintain unrealistically low body weight underlies the development of ED. ED in male elite athletes has not been investigated. Therefore, the aims of the project were to examine: 1) the prevalence of ED in elite male and female athletes and 2) factors related to the development of ED. For the screening part, a questionnaire including subscales of the EDI, weight history questions and self-reported history of ED was administered to the total population of male (n=960) and female (n=660) athletes and aged matched controls. The response rate was 73% and 86% for male and female athletes, respectively. All the athletes (female athletes; n=156, male athletes; n=27) and controls who reported ED were included in the clinical study. The prevalence of athletes and non athletes who met the DSM-IV criteria for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified was; 20%, 8%, 9% and 0.5% for female athletes, male athletes, female non athletes and all non athletes, respectively (p<0.05). For part of the analysis the 60 sport/events represented in the study were divided into different sport groups. (Table)TableMale athletes reported dieting (13%), overtraining (21%) and injury (25%) and female athletes reported dieting (60%), injury (28%), and sexual harassment/abuse (5%) as the most important factors for the development of their ED. The results show that ED is a problem for both male and female elite athlete and that male and female athletes report different factor as important for the development of their ED.