College Athletes Under Pressure: Eating Disorders Among Female Track and Field Athletes

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-243
Author(s):  
Michael A. Quinn ◽  
Stephanie Robinson

Eating disorders are a widespread problem for college female athletes. This article builds on this research by collecting survey data from female college track and field athletes at 30 universities. Results find that the division level is not a significant driver of eating disorders. Another significant finding comes from breaking out the pressures into its team-related and social causes. Results find that team-related pressures lead to more vomiting behavior, while social pressures impact dieting. Previous studies which aggregate pressures, rely on one eating disorder, or focus on a single university for their sampling may not reflect these complex relationships. Even after controlling for individual factors, competition level, and team nutritionists, the pressures still impact these athletes. This suggests a need for additional screenings and counselors to address pressures occurring both on and off the track. While difficult to achieve, there needs to be a change in team cultures across all divisions. JEL Classifications: I1, Z2

1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Kristin L. Wiginton ◽  
Deborah Rhea

The incidence of eating disorders among female athletes continues to increase, presenting intervention challenges to athletic trainers. Additionally, a number of female athletes have disordered eating behaviors that do not yet constitute an eating disorder diagnosis, but have similar characteristics to those athletes diagonised with eating disorders. However, each athlete exhibits individual mental representations of disordered eating and the impact of those representations on important aspects of her life. The athletic trainer has the potential to offer comprehensive preventive education when all aspects of the athlete’s own understanding of disordered eating are assessed. Cognitive mapping is an assessment technique that can be used in addition to other preventive practices and can be useful in determining an athlete’s current mental representations of disordered eating.


2013 ◽  
pp. 191-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Mitchell ◽  
Jacalyn J. Robert-McComb

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-162
Author(s):  
Katie Sullivan Barak ◽  
Chelsea A. Kaunert ◽  
Vikki Krane ◽  
Sally R. Ross

Previous research suggests that sport media provide one avenue for boys and girls to learn what and who is valued in sport. We explored girl and boy athletes’ perceptions of photographs of female college athletes, which provided insight into young athletes gendered perceptions of athletes and sport. Sixty-nine sportskids participated in focus group interviews where they discussed what they liked and disliked about a series of photographs of college female athletes. Framed by feminist cultural studies, the authors situated their analysis within the current historical moment bounded by young athletes’ post-Title IX and postfeminist sensibilities. The authors present their appraisals of a few exemplar images that characterize themes that appeared across the whole photo collection. Emergent themes included gendered sport terrain, which situates their comments within the gendered milieu of their sport experiences. Data also revealed themes associated with the select images: female athleticism, inspiration versus objectification, transgressing heteronormative femininity, and sporty cute. Overall, both girls and boys struggled with images that were interpreted as too feminine or too muscular/masculine. These data also point to how little has changed in the past 50 years regarding how female athletes are culturally constructed. While the borders of acceptability may have shifted, female athletes continue tenuous navigation of socially acceptable boundaries of athleticism, femininity, and muscularity while masculine privilege in sport continues and the presence of females in sport is framed by a heterosexual male gaze.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 589-595
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Joaquim ◽  
Claudia R. Juzwiak ◽  
Ciro Winckler

This study aimed to assess the diet quality of Brazilian Paralympic track-and-field team sprinters and its variation between days. All sprinters (n = 28) were invited, and 20 (13 men and seven women) accepted the invitation consisting of 13 athletes with visual impairment, four with cerebral palsy, and three with limb deficiency. The dietary intake was recorded by photographic register on four consecutive days, and diet quality was determined using a revised version of the Healthy Eating Index for the Brazilian population. Physical activity was assessed using an accelerometer, and metabolic unit information was used to classify exercise intensity. Variance Analysis Model and Bonferroni multiple comparisons were used to assess relationships between variables. The correlations between variables used Pearson linear correlation coefficient. The results show that revised version of the Healthy Eating Index score was classified as “needs to be modified” for all athletes. The maximum score for the components “Whole fruits,” “Total vegetables,” and “Dark green and orange vegetables and legumes” was achieved by 23.1% and 14.3%, 7.7% and 14.3%, and 46.2% and 57.8% of male and female athletes, respectively. Only 38.5% of the male athletes achieved the maximum score for the “Total cereal” component. Female athletes achieved higher scores than male athletes for the “Milk and dairy products” component (p = .03). Intake of whole grain cereals, dairy products, vegetables, and whole fruits needs modifications to improve adequate intake of vitamins and antioxidants, highlighting the need of continuous actions of nutrition education for this population.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa J. Wagner ◽  
Casey D. Erickson ◽  
Dayna K. Tierney ◽  
Megan N. Houston ◽  
Cailee E. Welch Bacon

Clinical Scenario:Eating disorders in female athletes are a commonly underdiagnosed condition. Better screening tools for eating disorders in athletic females could help increase diagnosis and help athletes get the treatment they need.Focused Clinical Question:Should screening tools be used to detect eating disorders in female athletes?Summary of Key Findings:The literature was searched for studies that included information regarding the sensitivity and specificity of screening tools for eating disorders in female athletes. The search returned 5 possible articles related to the clinical question; 3 studies met the inclusion criteria (2 cross-sectional studies, 1 cohort study) and were included. All 3 studies reported sensitivity and specificity for the Athletic Milieu Direct Questionnaire version 2, the Brief Eating Disorder in Athletes Questionnaire version 2, and the Physiologic Screening Test to Detect Eating Disorders Among Female Athletes. All 3 studies found that the respective screening tool was able to accurately identify female athletes with eating disorders; however, the screening tools varied in sensitivity and specificity values.Clinical Bottom Line:There is strong evidence to support the use of screening tools to detect eating disorders in female athletes. Screening tools with higher sensitivity and specificity have demonstrated a successful outcome of determining athletes with eating disorders or at risk for developing an eating disorder.Strength of Recommendation:There is grade A evidence available to demonstrate that screening tools accurately detect female athletes at risk for eating disorders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 490-499
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Barrett ◽  
Trent A. Petrie

Although researchers have examined eating disorders in female athletes, few such studies have been done with athletes who are retired, and even fewer have been quantitative. Thus, the authors empirically tested an established eating disorder theoretical model with 218 former NCAA Division-I female collegiate athletes who had been retired for 2–6 years. In retirement, participants completed measures of general sociocultural pressures related to body and appearance, thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, dietary restraint, negative affect, and bulimic symptomatology. Through structural equation modeling, the authors examined the direct and indirect relationships among the latent variables while controlling for body mass index and years since retirement. The model fit the data well, supporting the hypothesized direct and indirect relationships among the variables and explaining 54% of the variance in bulimic symptomatology. Despite no longer being exposed to sport pressures that contribute to eating disorders, female athletes experience such symptoms long into retirement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 101745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivienne M. Hazzard ◽  
Lauren M. Schaefer ◽  
Allison Mankowski ◽  
Traci L. Carson ◽  
Sarah M. Lipson ◽  
...  

1987 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorunn Sundgot Borgen ◽  
Charles B. Corbin

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