Eating Disorders and Body Dissatisfaction Prevention in Female Athletes

Eating disorders (ED) are more prevalent among female athletes than in the general population. The aim of this study is to perform an analysis of existing ED prevention programmes in general population and sports, and to design an ED prevention programme for adolescent female athletes. The method of this study is literature review. Controlled studies that have been effective after at least a 6 month follow-up and have been published in years 2008 2018 have been included: 3 studies of ED prevention in athletes and 2 studies concerning ED prevention in general population have been analysed. It has been concluded that effective ED prevention programmes for athletes feature one or more of the following elements: information about sport nutrition, extreme dieting, ED, pressures to be thin, cognitive dissonance based tasks, mental training, enhancing self-esteem. Based on the analysis, an ED prevention programme for adolescent female athletes has been designed.