The Relationship Between Physical Activity Levels With Eating Disorders, Body Image, And Body Composition In Female Athletes In Marivan During Coronavirus Pandemic

Boshra Mahmoodian¹ Adnan Fatahi² Mohammad Seayvan Nouri³

1) M.S Student in Exercise Physiology, Islamic Azad University, Marivan Branch, Marivan,
2) Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology, Islamic Azad University, Marivan Branch, Marivan, Iran. Email:
3) Assistant Professor of Sports Management, Islamic Azad University, Marivan Branch, Marivan, Iran.

IOI Code : XEAD-GDGEA
Publication : Third International Conference and Fifth National Conference on Innovations Sport Sciences(umasport2021.ir)
Abstract :
    Introduction: Eating disorder is usually associated with depression, stress and agitation, and it is common in athletes. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between physical activity level and eating disorder, body image and body composition in young athlete girls of Marivan city during COVID-19 pandemic. Method: To this end, one-hundred voluntary women athletes with age range of 20-30 years participated in this study. By standard questionnaires, physical activity level (sharkly), eating disorder (EAT-26) and body image (MBSRQ) were measured. Anthropometric characteristics of subjects were also measured. The correlation among variables was determined by Pearson correlation analysis. Results: The statistical results showed that there is an inverse correlation between physical activity level and eating disorder (r=-0.54, P=0.001). In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between physical activity level and body image in athlete girls (r=0.38, P=0.001). Furthermore, it has been revealed that there was a moderate positive but significant correlation between physical activity level and fat mass (r=0.57, P=0.001). Also, there were a significant negative correlation between physical activity level and body weight (r=-0.21), body fat percentage (r=-0.21) and body mass index (r=-0.22). Discussion: Based on the results of this research, physical activity is one of the most important factors affecting the health of female athletes, so that reducing physical activity is associated with increasing eating disorders, and these eating disorders are based on previous research, the origin of mental health disease in these individuals. On the other hand, the increase in eating disorders is associated with changes in the body image, and based on the results of this study, reduced physical activity with a negative body image in these athletes, which can also cause eating disorders to achieve optimal indicators of body composition It leads because in this study, it was shown that physical activity with anthropometric characteristics, especially fat mass, has a significant reverse relationship. Therefore, it can be concluded that physical inactivity during the corona can affect the mental and physical health of female athletes who should be considered. Conclusion: Overall, the findings indicated that physical activity is negatively associated with eating disorder and positively with body image in athlete girls.

Keywords : physical activity eating disorders athlete body composition body image coronavirus pandemic