An appetite to win: disordered eating behaviours amongst competitive cyclists

Roberts, CJ, Hurst, HT, Keay, N, Hamer, J, Stims, S, Schofield, KL and Hardwicke, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1152-0920, 2024. An appetite to win: disordered eating behaviours amongst competitive cyclists. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching. ISSN 1747-9541

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Abstract

Competitive cyclists may be vulnerable to disordered eating (DE) and eating disorders (ED) due to perceived body composition optimization and external influences within cycling culture and from stakeholders. Therefore, this study aimed to assess DE and ED risk in competitive cyclists using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), explore differences in responses based on sex, discipline, and level of competition, and to gain insights into contributing factors towards DE via open-ended survey questions. In total, 203 participants completed a mixed-method questionnaire. Eating disorders were reported by 5.7% (n = 11) of participants, with three being historic cases. The median (inter-quartile range) EAT-26 score was 8 (12) of a total possible score of 78. Disordered eating risk was observed in 16.7% of participants due to an EAT-26 score ≥20. Female participants had significantly higher scores than male participants (12.5 ± 17.5 vs. 6.5 ± 10.0; p = 0.004). There was no significant difference between road cyclists and off-road cyclists (7.0 ± 13.25 vs. 8.0 ± 10.5; p = 0.683). There was a significant difference in scores between novice/club/regional and national/elite/professional cyclists (6.0 ± 11.25 vs. 10.5 ± 12.0; p = 0.007). Thematic analysis of open-text responses found that the social environment of competitive cycling contributed towards DE behaviours and body image issues. These findings indicate competitive cyclists do appear to be an ‘at risk’ population for DE/ED. Therefore, there is need for stakeholders to enhance nutritional services, nutrition education, and create supportive athlete environments.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching
Creators:	Roberts, C.J., Hurst, H.T., Keay, N., Hamer, J., Stims, S., Schofield, K.L. and Hardwicke, J.
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Date:	16 May 2024
ISSN:	1747-9541
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1177/17479541241251688 DOI 1884845 Other
Rights:	This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	15 Apr 2024 15:54
Last Modified:	21 May 2024 08:38
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/51261

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