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Mahaney, P., P. Horvath, J. Leddy, J. Dorn, and J Muscarella. Med Sci Sports Exerc 38 (5 (Supp)):S206-S207, 2006.
Eating disorders are a common problem in the United States and the world. In athletics, the pressures of performance may compound the societal pressures to be thin putting athletes at increased risk for eating disorders. Eating disorders currently affect 7 million women and 1 million men. Approximately 1 % of female adolescents have Anorexia Nervosa, 4% of college aged women have bulimia, and 10% of people with anorexia and bulimia are male. Wrestling is a sport in which athletes compete in predetermined weight categories. It is considered advantageous to be in the lowest weight category possible to maximize one's strength-to-weight ratio. Many professional organizations agree that wrestlers' weight control practices are a concern given that there has been little change in the prevalence of rapid weight loss behaviors over the past 25 years. PURPOSE : To investigate the eating behaviors of athletes engaged in a competitive collegiate wrestling program and determine their risk for an eating disorder. METHODS : Twenty-six male wrestlers from a competitive Division I wrestling program completed the Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (ED I-2), a device used to screen for eating disorders. Their scores were compared to normal controls after cut-off scores (a score >~90 th percentile for normal controls) had been established for the three most relevant subscales of the EDI-2 (Drive for Thinness, cut-off >3; Body Dissatisfaction, cut-off >10 and Bulimia, cut-off >2). Subjects scoring above the cut-off in any of the three scales were considered at risk for an eating disorder. RESULTS : Chi square analysis of the scores for the 26 subjects revealed that 6 wrestlers were determined to be at risk for an eating disorder compared to the 2.6 expected for the general population of college-aged males from the normative data provided in the EDI-2 manual (? 2 = 4.94, p <0.05, critical value = 3.84). CONCLUSION : Subjects were significantly more likely to be classified as at risk if they were in the wrestler group. While these data do not indicate the prevalence of eating disorders in wrestlers they show that wrestlers may engage in risky behaviors and have psychological traits and symptoms related to eating disorders. This raises the possibility that wrestlers may have sub-clinical eating disorders with implications for their long term health. This initial study is being expanded to an older population of ex-wrestlers to determine if they have evidence of persistent altered eating practices and related adverse health effects.
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