Athletes and eating disorders: The National Collegiate Athletic Association study

Objective: To present findings from a collaborative study with the National College Athletic Association regarding the prevalence of disordered eating among student athletes. Method: 1,445 student athletes from I I Division 1 schools were surveyed using a 133-item questionnaire. Results: Results ind icated that 1.1% of the females met DSM-IV criteria for bulimia nervosa ver sus 0% for males. None of the student athletes met DSM-IV criteria for anor exia nervosa. 9.2% of the females were identified as having clinically sign ificant problems with bulimia versus .01% of the males. 2.85% of the female s were identified as having a clincally significant problem with anorexia n ervosa versus 0% for males. 10.85% of the females reported binge eating on a weekly or greater basis versus 13.02% of the males. 5.52% of the females reported purging behavior (vomiting, laxatives, diuretics) on a weekly or g reater Oasis versus 2.04% for the males. Discussion: Results from the curre nt investigation are more conservative than previous studies of student ath letes, but comparable to another large study of elite Norwegian athletes. R easons for these differences are discussed. Clearly female athletes report more difficulty with disordered eating than male athletes. Some specific ri sk factors for female athletes are discussed. (C) 1999 by John Wiley & Sons , Inc.