Eating attitudes and body image concerns among female athletes from aesthetic sports

Abstract

Purpose: Research has suggested that in female athletes from aesthetic sports the prevalence of disordered eating attitudes is higher than in female athletes from other sports, mainly due to sport related factors like extreme training and practicing sports associated with high pressure and the idea that “being thin leads to success”. The study was conducted to examine the prevalence of disturbed eating attitudes and their relationship with body image concerns in aesthetic and non-aesthetic female athletes. Methods: 54 female athletes from aesthetic sports (synchronized swimming, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, and dance), as well as 66 female athletes from non-aesthetic sports (volleyball, track and field, and soccer), completed the Eating Attitudes Test, the Body Shape Questionnaire, and the Figure Rating Scale (a visual scale used to assess body image dissatisfaction and body image dissatisfaction in relation to sport). Results: The results indicated that aesthetic athletes scored significantly higher than those involved in non-aesthetic sports in Dieting, and in Body Image Dissatisfaction. Moreover, aesthetic athletes demonstrated significantly lower BMI mean scores. Significant correlations were found between Body Mass Index and Oral Control, Body Image Dissatisfaction and Body Image Dissatisfaction in relation to Sport, and between Eating Attitudes Test and the Body Shape Questionnaire results in aesthetic athletes. Furthermore, significant associations were found between Body Mass Index and Body Shape Questionnaire, Body Image Dissatisfaction and Body Image Dissatisfaction in relation to Sport, and Eating Attitudes Test and Body Shape Questionnaire in non-aesthetic athletes. Conclusion: The study confirmed the relationship between body image concerns and pathological eating attitudes among female aesthetic sport athletes.

Associations between anthropometry, body composition, and body image in athletes: a systematic review

“…Similar findings were reported for sport-related body dissatisfaction. BMI showed a significant positive association with sport-related body dissatisfaction in all three (100%) studies that assessed this outcome ( Voelker et al, 2014 , 2018 ; Aleksic-Veljkovic and Djurovic, 2020 ).…”

“…Eleven of the 22 studies (50.0%) assessing an aspect of negative body image had all-female participants ( Karr et al, 2013 ; Voelker et al, 2014 ; de Sousa Fortes et al, 2015b , 2020 ; Aleksic-Veljkovic and Djurovic, 2020 ; Whitehead et al, 2020 ; Eufrásio de Medeiros et al, 2021 ; Godoy-Izquierdo and Díaz, 2021 ; Remmel et al, 2021 ; Jardim et al, 2022 ; Kagawa et al, 2023 ), while four (18.2%) included only males ( Goltz et al, 2013 ; de Sousa Fortes et al, 2015a ; Hernández-Martínez et al, 2017 ; Voelker et al, 2018 ). All but one ( Remmel et al, 2021 ) of these studies reported significant positive associations between BMI, skinfolds or %BF and an aspect of body image disturbance.…”

“…In the two (9.1%) studies that assessed body dissatisfaction in only non-lean sport athletes, significant positive findings were reported with BMI ( Godoy-Izquierdo and Díaz, 2021 ) and FFMI ( Hernández-Martínez et al, 2017 ). Two (9.1%) studies included a mixture of both lean and non-lean sport athletes ( Karr et al, 2013 ; Aleksic-Veljkovic and Djurovic, 2020 ); BMI was positively associated with at least one measurement of body image dissatisfaction in all athlete groups.…”

“…For studies using figure rating scales (FRS), the difference between perceived or current body image and ideal body image was used for this review, as the magnitude of the difference is considered a measure of body image dissatisfaction (Heider et al, 2018). Importantly, sport-related body dissatisfaction (BD-S) was also included as an outcome in three studies (Voelker et al, 2014(Voelker et al, , 2018Aleksic-Veljkovic and Djurovic, 2020). These studies used FRS and asked participants to select the ideal figure for the given sport.…”