Author: Brittany T. BowmanPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Body image
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Background: Proper nutritional habits are the basis of optimal performance, recovery, and overall health of athletes. Barriers, such as a negative body image, may affect their dietary choices. Athletes experience societal pressures, as well as sporting pressures that may impact body image. Objective: Evaluate the relationship of body image with macronutrient intake and the HEI (Healthy Eating Index) in adult recreational female runners. Methods: The data was collected from a baseline study including 101 premenopausal women who were 18 years and older and running at least 15 miles per week for the prior 6 weeks. Appearance Evaluation (AE) and Appearance Orientation (AO) subscales of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ) were used as objective estimates of body image. A three-day diet record analyzed with ESHA Food Processor was used to measure macronutrient intake. Thirty-seven of the original subjects returned for a four- to five-year follow-up and provided complete data where the Vioscreen Food Frequency was added to the protocol to yield a HEI score to estimate diet quality. To further differentiate between a strong and weak body image, the 1st and 2nd visit participants were categorized into weak, “AO dominant”, “AE dominant”, or strong body image groups. These groups were determined with the use of adult normative values for the AE and AO subscales. All data were imported into SPSS for statistical analysis. The relationship between body image and macronutrient intake controlling for EA was calculated using Pearson’s correlations (n=101). The relationship between body image and HEI was evaluated using the non-parametric Spearman’s correlation. Apriori statistical significance was p ≤ 0.05. Results: Carbohydrate intake was found to have a significant negative correlation to the AO subscale. When evaluated as the categorical variable, there were significant differences in carbohydrate intakes between body image groups at the baseline visit, with weak body image individuals consuming the least. HEI scores were found to have a significant positive correlation to the AE subscale at the second visit. Conclusions: Assessment of body image alongside nutritional habits may reveal body attitudes and desires that drive poor dietary decisions. Despite being the largest source of energy for athletes, carbohydrates are frequently under-consumed. More research is needed to determine why athletes chose to restrict carbohydrates in their diet and what aspects of body image are most impactful to dietary habits. Acknowledgments: Original Labs in Life was funded by a joint venture of the College of Education and Human Ecology and COSI Science Museum. This study partially funded by Dairy and Nutrition Council Endowment for Education in Nutrition: Importance of diet variety, OSU College of Medicine and American Dairy Association Mid-East.
