16 Youth Sports in Amer­ i ­ ca Types of Sport Categories and At-­Risk Athletes The popu­lar debate about ­whether athletes are more or less likely to develop dis- ordered eating or an eating disorder is unresolved, as findings have been mixed related to prevalence for athletes versus nonathletic populations. However, certain athletes have been considered more vulnerable for the potential development of negative body image and disordered eating be­hav­iors. Specifically, athletes who fit a psychological profile characterized as being highly perfectionistic, and highly achievement-­oriented along with being sensitive to criticism and having low self-­ esteem, may be more at risk for engaging in disturbed eating patterns. Addition- ally, athletes in individual sports had higher levels of social physique anxiety and disordered eating attitudes and be­hav­iors than athletes in team sports. Furthermore, certain sports tend to be associated with more direct pressures to fit a par­tic­u­lar physique to compete. Sports have been commonly divided into the following categories when ana- lyzing the prevalence of disordered eating among athletes: ball sports (or team sports), aesthetic sports, weight class sports, and endurance sports. Ball sports such as basketball and softball are believed to have less clearly identified pressures to lose or gain weight for youth athletes. Although no athlete is immune from devel- oping negative body image or eating disturbances, it is believed that athletes who participate in ball sports, which are often team sports, tend to be at less risk than aesthetic and endurance athletes. In fact, research has shown that male team sport athletes have less body image dissatisfaction and greater perceived physical ability than individual sport athletes. Aesthetic sports represent a category of sports that values a par­tic­u­lar look or appearance that goes along with the competitive outcome. Popu­lar aesthetic sports include figure skating, diving, synchronized swimming, and gymnastics, which all include being judged for how their bodies are positioned during their competitions. Although this way of scoring may seem subjective, the athletes are often encouraged to demonstrate “long lines” and to look lean in the air while performing moves. Ath- letes who believe that they should be leaner in order to improve sport per­for­mance are at greater risk for disordered eating and eating disorders than athletes who desire to be leaner for any other reason. A recent study on youth athletes confirmed this hypothesis, with athletes participating in aesthetic activities scoring higher on mea­sures of drive for thinness, bulimic symptomology, and drive for muscularity than athletes who participated in any other nonaesthetic activity. As a result, aes- thetic athletes registered higher levels of body image dissatisfaction and disor- dered eating be­hav­iors than nonaesthetic athletes, regardless of gender. Another category of sports that is impor­tant to consider are sports competi- tions that are arranged in strictly defined weight classes, such as wrestling and
Previous Page Next Page