New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has revealed a striking disconnect between how recreational athletes perceive their health and fitness and how they feel about their bodies.
The survey found that while 69 percent of recreational athletes surveyed considered themselves healthy and 62 percent believed they were fit, only 26 percent reported being satisfied with their body weight and shape.
The findings confirm a troubling trend that athletes, particularly those who engage in regular or structured physical activity, are statistically more likely to exhibit disordered eating and exercise behaviors than their non-athlete counterparts, said Dr. Valeria Varea of ECU.
“There is significant research available to show that athletes are at greater risk of developing eating disorders, compared to non-athletes, particularly those who participate in sports that focus on lean bodies, such as gymnastics, or those that have weight classes.”
Dr. Varea and his colleagues noted that 67 percent of recreational athletes surveyed also reported feeling some level of stress or anxiety if they did not have access to foods they considered healthy, and 88 percent reported feeling some guilt after eating food they considered unhealthy.
Dr Varea said a focus on fueling the body could potentially translate into eating disorders such as Orthorexia Nervosa (ON), which is a fixation on proper nutrition. People with ON become stressed if they don’t have access to their specific healthy foods, causing them to feel out of control.
ON differs from anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders in the way that people who experience it worry about the quality of food rather than the quantity.
Some athletes are also at risk of Orthorexia Athletica (OA), which is characterized by the compulsive use and abuse of healthy foods and obsessive exercise, as athletes essentially cross the line from a healthy approach to their diet and training to an unhealthy obsession with both food and exercise.
The Vice-Chancellor’s research professor, Professor Dawn Penney, confirmed the dual concerns.
Concurrent concerns about both food quality and compulsive exercise is what distinguishes OA from ON where the concern is only about food quality. Athletes are seen as a particularly at-risk population group, with many sports and sports cultures associated with regulated healthy eating programs, high levels of training and/or a “thin to win” orientation.
Professor Dawn Penney, Edith Cowan University
Adding to the complexity, however, is the fact that there is currently no medical diagnosis for either OA or ON, Dr. Varea said.
“There is no way for athletes or recreational exercisers to really know when they cross the line from healthy eating to ON or healthy exercise to OA.”
Prof Penney said this only further highlighted the need for expanded approaches to education, particularly for everyday athletes involved in the regions or outside of formal club structures and support.
“With variation in how people participate in sport and how information about participation is communicated, there is a need for further research to explore how health education can be framed more effectively to minimize the incidence and risks associated with eating disorders and exercise for a wide range of people,” he said.
