Do diets lead to eating disorders in athletes? скачать в хорошем качестве

Do diets lead to eating disorders in athletes?

Some coaches and athletes think that rigid adherence to a diet is a sign of self-discipline; they think athletes need to strictly control their intake to maintain optimal performance. A review of research in sport found that strict dieting is not likely to be an asset to athletes: instead, it is more likely to be a red-flag for an eating disorder. In female athletes, the prevalence of disordered eating is estimated to be as high as 45%. In males, it's still as high as 20% There is such a thing as healthy dieting, but healthy dieting is at the start of a continuum of more disordered eating behaviours, moving from restrictive diets, to chronic dieting, to fasting, and compensatory behaviours like misusing laxatives and diuretics, vomiting and excessive exercise. At this unhealthy end of the continuum are diagnosable eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and other feeding or eating disorders. Disordered eating and body dissatisfaction are pervasive amongst people both in and out of sport: one study of women in the general population found that over 40% had an eating disorder at some point in their life. It’s common to think that diets start a slippery slope toward disordered eating, and a meta-analysis of risk factors helps shed some light on the problem. It’s true that self-reported dieting predicts negative outcomes like bulimia, disordered eating and negative affect in longitudinal studies, but diets given in experimental conditions often lead to better psychological outcomes. The meta-analyses on these topics suggest dieting does not cause eating disorders, but instead diets appear to be a symptom of other pathologies that cause eating disorders. For example, if someone was perfectionistic, unhappy, or prone to binge eating, then they would be more likely to start a diet, and they would also be more likely to develop an eating disorder. Those who feel pressure to be thin from society or from friends and family are much more likely to develop all kinds of eating disorder symptoms. People who aim to be thin, as opposed to aiming for fitness and health, tend to be less happy about themselves, their body and their lives more generally. These factors cause and maintain binge eating, disorders like bulimia, and other eating disorder symptoms. If she’s unhappy with her body, she’s more likely to have all the problems we’ve described so far. People who are unhappy, or have what’s called a negative affect, can get stuck in a cycle of binging, compensating, and restricting. For this reason, mood is an important factor to consider when looking out for problematic eating. Finally, people who are perfectionistic or rigid in their behaviour are more likely to get stuck in the cycle of an eating disorder. On the other hand, if she’s forgiving of herself for making a mistake, and allows herself flexibility in her diet and exercise, perhaps it’s more likely that she’s at the healthier end of the spectrum. Psychological support can help people struggling with eating disorders to become happier about themselves and their bodies without compromising performance. Sport psychologists often help athletes manage weight and shape concerns, and learn how to do it while making performance better, not worse. Otherwise, the evidence for treating most eating disorders, like binge eating disorder and bulimia, is very strong. Well-trained psychologists and some general practitioners can provide specific psychological strategies, like cognitive-behaviour therapy, to help people overcome these weight and shape concerns.