While research examining disordered eating weight obsession, abnormal behaviors to control weight and full-blown eating disorders comparing female athletes to non-athletes is somewhat equivocal, research seems to support that “the incidence of eating disorders and subclinical levels of eating disturbances appears to be much higher among people who participate in sports, physical activities, or occupations which emphasize thinners or low body fat for enhanced performance” in order to be lean and to also show self-control and discipline.
This study, published in Eating Disorders, included 20 competitive female bodybuilders (CFBBs) and a control group of 20 recreational female lifters (RFWTs) to study the above as well as build on and compare previous results on body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, perfectionism and steroid use in their male counterparts.
To be a CFBB, a woman had to either be actively training for a competition or had done one within the last year. To me, those would be two separate subgroups, as the goals and mentality would be different. RFWTs lifted at least twice a week for 7+ months wh0o had never competed nor had any goal to within the next year.
Because we don’t know what stage the CFBBs were in (cutting, bulking, recomping, how far out from competition they were, etc), I think another control group should have been added: cardio. Some CFBBs rely on diet alone, but when cutting, especially as the competition nears, many engage in high intensity interval training (HIIT). It would also be potentially useful in determine if CFBBs were overdoing the cardio. I also think knowing what stage the CFBBs were in could be relevant to findings and potential implications and/or interventions. It seems like just like those are training for an upcoming competition versus those who recently competed should have been separate subgroups, so too would cutters versus bulkers. And all should be looked at as an aggregate and separately.
Measures included in Beck Depression Inventory, the Eating Disorder Inventory, a paper and pencil version of the Eating Disorder portion of the computerized Diagnostic Schedule, a Bodybuilding questionnaire, The Anabolic Steroid Questionnaire, Drive for Bulk and Drive for Tone.
Note that some of these measures are well-known and commonly used, whereas a couple were developed, and there was no mention of how the questions were formed or by whom, test-retest, reliability and validity, sample questions, etc.
I also think it would have been useful to know how long both groups were working out for. Were they overexercising, either in general or in a non-purging bulimia type of way?
CFBBs reported more binge eating behaviors, were more overly concerned with body weight and shape, had more strict dieting habits, were more dissatisfied with their bodies, exercised more vigorously and had a higher rate of anabolic steroid use than did RFWTs, although they too have a higher prevalence of some of these things than the general population.
For example, bulimia was an issue for 15% of the competitive bodybuilders and 12% of the control group, both of which are much higher percentages than are seen in the general population. Because the rate was so high among recreational lifters too, clearly body dissatisfaction, weight control via unhealthy eating can’t be 100% attributed to or connected with bodybuilding.
While eating behaviors among CFBBs mimic those with eating disorders, the psychological profiles do not match.
40% of CFBBs used steroids, which kind of shocked me. But maybe this means many competitors were in the bulking stage, especially since they had a greater drive for bulk and muscle tone. This number really seems so high to me. Wow.
However, they also used extreme cardio and strict dieting to control their weight, which would suggest more of them were cutting, in my opinion.
Binge eating was also common in the competitive bodybuilders, which to me also resonates with cutting (prior to competition or soon after), “as “strict dieting, either by avoiding forbidden foods or caloric restriction both of which are common in competitive bodybuilding to reduce body fat, may predispose bodybuilders to binge eating by increasing deprivation of desired foods or decreasing sensitivity to internal cues such as hunger or satiety.”
Ultimately, there is a chicken/egg scenario: Do women recovering from eating disorders disproportionately gravitate toward competitive bodybuilding and/or do the characteristics of bodybuilding foster a subgroup that becomes prone to developing eating disorder-esque behaviors, body dissatisfaction and steroid use?
randi morse, randi.morse@gmail.com, newton, ma
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