Exercise commitment and proneness to eating disorders in a group of physical education teachers

Examined the relationship between the degree of exercise commitment and proneness to eating disorders in 50 physical education teachers playing different disciplines (running, aerobics, cycling, swimming, basket ball, tennis) for almost 5 years and a minimum of three sessions a week. Significant correlations were obtained between the Commitment to Exercise Scale (CES) scores, the number of weekly training sessions and the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2) scales of Maturity Fears, Social Insecurity, Perfectionism and particularly with Asceticism. However, no significant relationship was found between CES scores, the rating scale indicating sport practice for the sake of lose weight and EDI-2 scales measuring anorexic tendencies, such as Drive for Thinness, Body Dissatisfaction, and Bulimia. Findings show the presence of some psychological factors common to both anorexic tendencies and excessive exercising but not their complete overlapping, suggesting a rather more complex pattern of relationships mediated by gender and personality characteristics