EATING DISORDERS WITH FEMALE ATHLETES: IMPORTANCE OF THE KIND OF SPORT AND LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION

Introduction: There is still conflicting information about the prevalence of EDs with female athletes. The results for different countries and subpopulations of athletes also show large variations due to various reasons including intercultural differences, eating habits and behaviors. Purpose: The a...

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Main Authors: Diana Dimitrova, Galina Vanlyan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Scientific Publishing House. NSA Press 2017-12-01
Series:Journal of Applied Sports Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.nsa.bg/pdf/vol2_2017/EATING%20DISORDERS%20WITH%20FEMALE%20ATHLETES%20IMPORTANCE%20OF%20THE%20KIND%20OF%20SPORT%20AND%20LEVEL%20OF%20PARTICIPATION.pdf
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author Diana Dimitrova
Galina Vanlyan
author_facet Diana Dimitrova
Galina Vanlyan
author_sort Diana Dimitrova
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: There is still conflicting information about the prevalence of EDs with female athletes. The results for different countries and subpopulations of athletes also show large variations due to various reasons including intercultural differences, eating habits and behaviors. Purpose: The aim of this first for Bulgaria study was to examine the prevalence of eating disorder attitudes and behaviors among Bulgarian female athletes and to estimate how eating disorders vary across the nature of the sport and level of proficiency. Methods: A total of 363 female athletes, aged between 12-25 years participated in the study. All participants completed an anonymous paper-based EDE-Q and provided information about their age, sports experience, participation in competitions and competitive level. The subjects were divided into groups according to the type of sport (aesthetic and non-aesthetic) and level of participation (non-competitive, low and high competitive level). Results: There were no differences between the athletes in the subgroups with respect to any of the EDE-Q subscales. On the basis of pre-established cutoff score of 4 on EDE-Q scales and the presence of pathological eating behavior we found the same prevalence rate of eating disorder with female athletes in both aesthetic sports (33.3%) and non-aesthetic sports (31.8%). Although the tendency of increasing the incidents with DE was observed, the statistical analysis showed no significant differences between the three groups with respect to the level of participation. Conclusion: This study found a relatively high prevalence of abnormal eating patterns with Bulgarian female athletes, as measured by EDE-Q. Eating disorder behavior is a prerequisite for increased risk of mental eating disorders and serious health problems.
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spelling doaj.art-2f485d8663a447818ecdd9704f67b4bf2023-01-02T03:19:37ZengScientific Publishing House. NSA PressJournal of Applied Sports Sciences2534-95972535-01452017-12-012424910.37393/jass.2017.02.5EATING DISORDERS WITH FEMALE ATHLETES: IMPORTANCE OF THE KIND OF SPORT AND LEVEL OF PARTICIPATIONDiana Dimitrova0Galina Vanlyan1National Sports Academy "Vassil Levski"National Sports Academy "Vassil Levski"Introduction: There is still conflicting information about the prevalence of EDs with female athletes. The results for different countries and subpopulations of athletes also show large variations due to various reasons including intercultural differences, eating habits and behaviors. Purpose: The aim of this first for Bulgaria study was to examine the prevalence of eating disorder attitudes and behaviors among Bulgarian female athletes and to estimate how eating disorders vary across the nature of the sport and level of proficiency. Methods: A total of 363 female athletes, aged between 12-25 years participated in the study. All participants completed an anonymous paper-based EDE-Q and provided information about their age, sports experience, participation in competitions and competitive level. The subjects were divided into groups according to the type of sport (aesthetic and non-aesthetic) and level of participation (non-competitive, low and high competitive level). Results: There were no differences between the athletes in the subgroups with respect to any of the EDE-Q subscales. On the basis of pre-established cutoff score of 4 on EDE-Q scales and the presence of pathological eating behavior we found the same prevalence rate of eating disorder with female athletes in both aesthetic sports (33.3%) and non-aesthetic sports (31.8%). Although the tendency of increasing the incidents with DE was observed, the statistical analysis showed no significant differences between the three groups with respect to the level of participation. Conclusion: This study found a relatively high prevalence of abnormal eating patterns with Bulgarian female athletes, as measured by EDE-Q. Eating disorder behavior is a prerequisite for increased risk of mental eating disorders and serious health problems.http://journal.nsa.bg/pdf/vol2_2017/EATING%20DISORDERS%20WITH%20FEMALE%20ATHLETES%20IMPORTANCE%20OF%20THE%20KIND%20OF%20SPORT%20AND%20LEVEL%20OF%20PARTICIPATION.pdfdisorder eatingfemale athletesede-qprevalence rate
spellingShingle Diana Dimitrova
Galina Vanlyan
EATING DISORDERS WITH FEMALE ATHLETES: IMPORTANCE OF THE KIND OF SPORT AND LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION
Journal of Applied Sports Sciences
disorder eating
female athletes
ede-q
prevalence rate
title EATING DISORDERS WITH FEMALE ATHLETES: IMPORTANCE OF THE KIND OF SPORT AND LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION
title_full EATING DISORDERS WITH FEMALE ATHLETES: IMPORTANCE OF THE KIND OF SPORT AND LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION
title_fullStr EATING DISORDERS WITH FEMALE ATHLETES: IMPORTANCE OF THE KIND OF SPORT AND LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION
title_full_unstemmed EATING DISORDERS WITH FEMALE ATHLETES: IMPORTANCE OF THE KIND OF SPORT AND LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION
title_short EATING DISORDERS WITH FEMALE ATHLETES: IMPORTANCE OF THE KIND OF SPORT AND LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION
title_sort eating disorders with female athletes importance of the kind of sport and level of participation
topic disorder eating
female athletes
ede-q
prevalence rate
url http://journal.nsa.bg/pdf/vol2_2017/EATING%20DISORDERS%20WITH%20FEMALE%20ATHLETES%20IMPORTANCE%20OF%20THE%20KIND%20OF%20SPORT%20AND%20LEVEL%20OF%20PARTICIPATION.pdf
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AT galinavanlyan eatingdisorderswithfemaleathletesimportanceofthekindofsportandlevelofparticipation