Background: Exercise addiction, eating disorders and disordered eating behavior are mental deviations that can underpin low energy availability and risk for Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S). There is a lack off studies which have investigated how a nutritional educational programme can reduce risk for exercise addiction and symptoms of disordered eating. Purpose: This thesis` purpose was to evaluate if a 16-week practice orientated sports nutrition education and counselling program can reduce risk for exercise addiction and symptoms for disordered eating in female endurance athletes with risk of RED-S and low risk for eating disorders. Method: A total of 33 competitive female endurance athletes participated in an intervention where they were enrolled in a course where the focus was on nutritional education through online learning videos every week. The participants received nutritional counseling every other week, totaling eight during the intervention. The participants answered the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) at pre- and posttest.. Results: The total score for the Exercise Addiction Inventory saw a significant reduction by 1.4% from pre- to posttest and the subscales Mood Modification, Tolerance, Withdrawal Symptoms and Relapse had significant increases. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire Global score revealed a significant reduction by 27.3% from pre- to post with significant reductions in all subscales. Additional analysis showed a significant and moderate correlation between the exercise addiction and disordered eating at pretest, and a non-significant moderate correlation at posttest. Conclusion: This thesis has shown that a reduction in risk of exercise addiction and symptoms of disordered eating can be achieved through a 16-week intervention aimed at increasing sports nutrition knowledge among female athletes at risk for RED-S.
© Copyright 2022 Veröffentlicht von University of Agder. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.