Context Lean sports, endurance running, have been at the forefront of disordered eating and body image research, particularly in female populations. Yet, little is known about how athletic men and women differ in body checking behaviors, a known risk factor for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, across sport type and athletic status.

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences on measures of eating behavior and body checking between full-time collegiate student-athletes and nonathletes.

Design Cross-sectional study.

Setting NCAA DI collegiate athletics.

Participants Two-hundred fifty-nine full-time college students (n = 174 student-athletes, 85 nonathletes)

Main Outcome Measures Primary outcomes included self-reported disordered eating behavior and body checking behavior through the EAT-26 and the Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ) and the Male BCQ (MBCQ). We explored differences based on sport type, team, individual, or nonathlete, and gender identity.

Results There was a statistically significant multivariate main effect of gender F(10, 464) = 9.219, p<0.001, 𝜂 2 = 0.166, and a significant multivariate interaction of gender and sport type F(15, 699) = 2.806, p=0.001, 𝜂 2 = 0.057. Follow-up comparisons for team sport athletes showed that women scored significantly higher (p<0.001) on the MBCQ compared to men. Women team sport athletes also scored significantly higher on the MBCQ than women nonathletes (p < 0.001). Conversely, nonathlete men scored significantly higher on the MBCQ than men team and individual sport athletes (p = 0.003 and p = 0.048, respectively).

Conclusions Findings suggest that body checking behaviors traditionally studied as masculine occur more frequently in women than men. This effect seems to be driven by women team sport athletes, who reported engaging in more body checking behaviors on the MBCQ than nonathletes. Therefore, assessments based on traditional views of maleness and femaleness may overlook significant risk factors for eating disorders (ED) in college athletes.

body image, eating disorders, student-athletes, body checking
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Author notes

Kathleen S. Webster, the third author, passed away September 26, 2024

The authors report that there are no competing interests to declare.

This manuscript was based on a master's thesis conducted by Stephen Cirella Jr. under the direction of Dr. Lisa Harlow and Dr. Kathleen Webster. Sincere appreciation is extended to Dr. Mark Hartman for continuing this project's efforts as well as Dr. Hector Lopez-Vergara and Dr. Christie-Ward Ritacco for their input on the thesis.