title: The association of a high drive for thinness with energy deficiency and severe menstrual disturbances: confirmation in a large population of exercising women.
abstract: A high drive-for-thinness (DT) score obtained from the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 is associated with surrogate markers of energy deficiency in exercising women. The purposes of this study were to confirm the association between DT and energy deficiency in a larger population of exercising women that was previously published and to compare the distribution of menstrual status in exercising women when categorized as high vs. normal DT. A high DT was defined as a score ≥7, corresponding to the 75th percentile for college-age women. Exercising women age 22.9 ± 4.3 yr with a BMI of 21.2 ± 2.2 kg/m2 were retrospectively grouped as high DT (n = 27) or normal DT (n = 90) to compare psychometric, energetic, and reproductive characteristics. Chi-square analyses were performed to compare the distribution of menstrual disturbances between groups. Measures of resting energy expenditure (REE) (4,949 ± 494 kJ/day vs. 5,406 ± 560 kJ/day, p < .001) and adjusted REE (123 ± 16 kJ/LBM vs. 130 ± 9 kJ/LBM, p = .027) were suppressed in exercising women with high DT vs. normal DT, respectively. Ratio of measured REE to predicted REE (pREE) in the high-DT group was 0.85 ± 0.10, meeting the authors' operational definition for an energy deficiency (REE:pREE <0.90). A greater prevalence of severe menstrual disturbances such as amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea was observed in the high-DT group (χ2 = 9.3, p = .003) than in the normal-DT group. The current study confirms the association between a high DT score and energy deficiency in exercising women and demonstrates a greater prevalence of severe menstrual disturbances in exercising women with high DT.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Kinesiology, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Jenna C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gibbs
authors.forename: Nancy I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Scheid
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Toombs
authors.forename: Mary Jane
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: De Souza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004328:Drive; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D004970:Estrone / Q000097:blood; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D020719:Glucuronides / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008597:Menstrual Cycle; D008599:Menstruation Disturbances / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D020719:Glucuronides; D004970:Estrone; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone