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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Sport and Exercise Nutrition
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1456782
This article is part of the Research Topic Eating Disorders and Eating Disorder Awareness View all 6 articles

Eating Disorder Risk Assessment and Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Body Image Among Polish and Turkish Professional Female Football Players

Provisionally accepted
Wiktoria Staśkiewicz-Bartecka Wiktoria Staśkiewicz-Bartecka 1,2*Samet Aktaş Samet Aktaş 3Grzegorz Zydek Grzegorz Zydek 4Marek Kardas Marek Kardas 1Martyna Kałużna Martyna Kałużna 5Małgorzata M. Michalczyk Małgorzata M. Michalczyk 2
  • 1 Department of Food Technology and Quality Assessment, School of Public Health in Bytom, Medical University of Silesia, Zabrze, Poland
  • 2 Institute of Sport Sciences, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Katowice, Silesian, Poland
  • 3 High school of Physical Education and Sports, Batman University, Batman, Türkiye
  • 4 Department of Sport Nutrition, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education In Katowice, Katowice, Silesian, Poland
  • 5 Nutrition and Sports Performance Research Group, The Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Katowice, Poland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Football requires high physical fitness and often involves maintaining a specific physique, leading to harmful eating behaviors due to internal and external pressures. Cultural norms influence the prevalence and types of eating disorders (ED), with differences in eating habits, beauty standards, and socio-cultural pressures affecting ED development. This study assesses ED risk and analyzes socio-cultural attitudes towards body image among Polish and Turkish female football players. Methods: The study was conducted from April to June 2024 and included 103 professional female football players aged 18-35 from Polish (n=49) and Turkish (n=54) clubs. Data were collected using the CAWI method via Google Forms. Participants completed EAT-26 and SATAQ-3 questionnaires, assessing ED risk and socio-cultural attitudes towards body image. Results: 40.8% of participants were at risk for ED. No differences in ED prevalence were found between groups of different nationalities. Polish footballers at risk of ED scored higher on the Internalization-Pressure and Information subscales and the overall SATAQ-3 score. A weak but significant positive correlation was found between SATAQ-3 and EAT-26 scores.Discussion: The study finds no nationality-based differences in ED prevalence among professional female football players, but ED is widespread, affecting about 40% of players. Nutritional status impacts ED risk, with higher risk among underweight and overweight players. Polish players are more influenced by socio-cultural standards of body image promoted by mass media. The study underscores the need for regular screening and psychological support.

    Keywords: Eating Disorders1, female football player2, body image3, professional sport4, sport nutrition5

    Received: 29 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Staśkiewicz-Bartecka, Aktaş, Zydek, Kardas, Kałużna and Michalczyk. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wiktoria Staśkiewicz-Bartecka, Department of Food Technology and Quality Assessment, School of Public Health in Bytom, Medical University of Silesia, Zabrze, Poland

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