Prevalence of eating disorders on male team sports players

Abstract

Objective To determinate the prevalence of EDs in national adult male team sports players.

Methodology An observational study was conducted with 124 football, rugby, volleyball, handball, water polo, baseball and hockey players ranging between 18 and 55 years old. All subjects signed the informed consent before participating in the study. Data were collected via an online form including four validated questionnaires: The Eating Habits Questionnaire for Athletes, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40), the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 and the Body Shape Questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted with the software IBM SPSS V.23.0.0.

Results 18.5% of the population presented a clinical profile compatible with an ED diagnosis. We cannot confidently say that the prevalence of EDs within our sample is conditioned by the analysed variables.

Conclusion Male team sports players may also be a high-risk group in the development of EDs. Risk factors such as young age, semiprofessional sporting status and body fat composition could influence its development.