Abstract
It is known that female athletes are at risk for eating disorders. It is thought
that factors such as pressure and stress experienced by professional athletes
may affect emotional eating and body appreciation. In this context, the aim of
this study was to evaluate the emotional eating and body appreciation of
professional Turkish female athletes. A total of 265 professional female
athletes were categorized according to their sport types and nationality.
Emotional eating was found to be higher and body appreciation to be lower in
athletes competing at the national level. The results of the hierarchical
regression analysis, which included variables such as age, body mass index,
professional sports background, national level, and sport type show that the
most effective factor in explaining emotional eating in professional female
athletes is body appreciation. The present study findings support that
professional female athletes are at risk in terms of emotional eating and body
appreciation. In addition, emotional eating scores were found to be higher and
body appreciation scores were lower in national athletes. Psychological factors
such as intense stress and pressure have an impact on the eating behavior and
body appreciation of national athletes. These results suggest that athletes
should be evaluated by nutritionists, doctors, and psychologists from a
multidisciplinary perspective.
Keywords
female athlete - eating disorders - emotional eating - body appreciation - nutrition
