Eating disorders in sport: Review of prevalence, risk factors, and studies of eating disorders in highly competing athletes

Dilyara Ismailova , Zuzanna Gazdowska

Abstract

In today’s society, where thinness is idealized and correlates with good personal characteristics, people resort to different actions in order to comply with social norms. Athletes do not differ; they face the same issue of body image and weight concerns as the rest of the society. In addition to general factors of eating disorders, they have an extra pressure from their sport environment to maintain certain body weight and body measurements. This type of pressure puts them in the high-risk zone for developing clinical eating disorders (Brownell, 1991; Byrne & McLean, 2002; Rodin & Larson, 1992; Smolak, Murnen, & Ruble, 2000). Numerous studies investigated this problem related to variety of risk factors (Krentz & Warschburger, 2011; Picard, 1999; Sundgot-Borgen, 1994). This paper is focused on reviewing the available and newest literature on prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of eating disorders in sport, specifically among elite athletes.