Disordered eating among a multi-racial/ethnic sample of female high-school athletes.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of disordered eating (DE) attitudes and behaviors in a multi-racial/ethnic sample of female high-school athletes.


METHODS
The Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) was administered to 453 suburban female high-school athletes (277 Caucasian, 103 Latina, and 73 African American; aged 15.7 +/- 1.2 years) during their competitive season.


RESULTS
The prevalence of DE in the total sample was 19.6%; among the three ethnic groups, prevalence estimates were 19.2%, 18.4%, and 23.3% for African Americans, Caucasians, and Latinas, respectively. The prevalence estimates of binge eating (12.6%) and vomiting (7.8%) were significantly higher in Latinas as compared to African Americans (5.5%, 1.4%) and Caucasians (5.4%, 2.2%; chi2 p < .05). The prevalence of diuretic and laxative use was low among all athletes (< 3%), with no differences by ethnicity (p > .05). After adjusting for body mass index (BMI) and sport, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with Bonferroni post-hoc pair-wise comparisons indicated that Caucasian and Latina athletes scored higher than African Americans on all EDE-Q subscales except eating restraint, which was higher only in Caucasians compared to African Americans (p = .001-.046).


CONCLUSIONS
Caucasian and Latina female high-school athletes may be at greater risk for eating disorders than their African American peers. Furthermore, Latina athletes may be particularly at risk for binge-eating disorder. Culturally-sensitive behavioral interventions targeted specifically for high-school athletes are needed to reduce the risk of eating disorders and associated long-term health consequences in this population.
Pernick
Yael
Y
Department of Exercise & Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182-7251, USA.
Nichols
Jeanne F
JF
Rauh
Mitchell J
MJ
Kern
Mark
M
Ji
Ming
M
Lawson
Mandra J
MJ
Wilfley
Denise
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013177:Sports