Disordered eating & body image of current and former athletes in a pandemic; a convergent mixed methods study - What can we learn from COVID-19 to support athletes through transitions?

Abstract

Plain English summary The current study looked to explore how current and former athletes’ disordered eating had been affected in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that disordered eating had worsened in both population groups and was described through increases to food preoccupation, control, binge eating, dietary restriction and fear of body composition change. This study offers suggestions on how to best support current and former athletes through COVID-19 transitions, further relating these findings to athletic transitions such as retirement, injury, pregnancy and illness.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Athlete
• Sport
• Retired athlete
• Eating disorder
• Body image