Disordered eating behaviors among CrossFit athletes

ABSTRACT Objective: Evaluate differences in disordered eating symptoms between men and women who practice CrossFit and to evaluate its predictors in this population. Methods: A cross-sectional study (April to June 2019) was carried out with 194 adults (103 women and 91 men) enrolled in private CrossFit boxes in Brazil, with a mean age of 30.19 years (SD = 5.34). Participants answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (disordered eating), the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (body-ideal internalization), and the Drive for Muscularity Scale (drive for muscularity). A series of Student's t-tests was applied to test differences in disordered eating symptoms between men and women. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to evaluate predictors of disordered eating for both sexes. Results: Women showed greater disordered eating symptoms, dietary restrictions and excessive concern about thinness than men. Moreover, younger women with a higher BMI are more likely to have disordered eating symptoms. Higher drive for muscularity and greater general body-ideal internalization were also associated with disordered eating among women. In men, muscularity-oriented behavior was the only predictor of disordered eating. Conclusion: These findings are relevant, as they point out that women who practice CrossFit seem to be a high risk group for the development of eating disorders. In addition, muscularity-oriented behaviors in men and the drive for muscularity, internalization of the ideal body, BMI and age in women are predictors of disordered eating in CrossFit practitioners.