Exercise and eating disorder symptoms among young females

Abstract

Eating disorder symptoms in young females seem to be associated with obligatory attitudes to exercise rather than with exercise quantity.

Behavioral activation or inhibition during emotional stress--implications for exercise habits and emotional problems among young females

“…We do not suggest that habitual high levels of exercise per se are predictive of anxiety. In a recent study (26), we have stated that emotional problems are related much more to obligatory exercise attitudes than to the mere quantity of exercise.…”

Does “excessive” or “compulsive” best describe exercise as a symptom of bulimia nervosa?

“…Participants were subsequently categorized as high-level exercisers (HiEx) if they exercised six or more times per week for an hour or more, and as having obligatory attitudes to exercise (ObEx) if they obtained greater than 95th percentile on the composite score of obligatory exercise items. High levels of exercise were associated with obligatory attitudes to exercise (Seigel & Hetta, 2001). However, only ObEx was associated with significant body image problems, recurrent weight-reducing attempts, binging, and postprandial impulses to vomit, whereas HiEx was not.…”

“…of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), the term ''excessive'' has been used to characterize exercise as a symptom of bulimia nervosa. This suggests that the quantity of the physical activity is symptomatic, rather than its quality, and this suggestion is reflected in the assessment of intense exercising using the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE; Fairburn & Cooper, 1993, p. 347 Seigel and Hetta (2001) administered a 24-item questionnaire to a random sample of 1,000 female Swedish young adults. The questionnaire was developed to assess exercise amount (frequency, duration, and intensity), obligatory exercising attitudes, body image, and eating attitudes.…”

Risk of Eating Disorders and Physical Self-Concept in Adolescence

“…Also, the symptoms of EDs seem to be more closely related to feelings of obligation (i.e. being obliged to engage in physical exercise), rather than to the actual amount of exercise carried out (Seigel & Hetta, 2001). …”