Healthy Sport Project; Preventing Eating Disorders in Sport (HSP)

The "Healthy Sport Project" is an adapted program from the Body Project by prof Eric Stice, aiming to reduce body dissatisfaction and symptoms of disordered eating and eating disorders in adolescent elite athletes. This trial aim to evaluate the effect of the program using a one-arm pilot study design in 14 years age old athletes at a Norwegian Elite Sport Junior High School.

Eating disorders (EDs) are serious illnesses with highest incidence in adolescents. Moreover, athletes have a higher frequency of symptoms of disordered eating (DE) and EDs than non-athletes. There are many reasons to this health issue, but body appearance pressure, competing in body mass sensitive sports, and comments on body appearance are important explanations. Few programs have proved effective in preventing DE and EDs in the general population, or in athletes specifically, and none is permanent operative in sports in Norway. Body Project by prof Eric Stice have proved effective in preventing body dissatisfaction, figure idealization and new onset of EDs in female adolescents above 15 years of age, and with body dissatisfaction, from the general population. A few attempts to adapt this program to female athletes, argue for a comparative positive effect. Three important elements to further address, are: 1) programs need also to be tested in males; 2) programs need to be tested in adolescents of younger age before the typical onset of an ED; and 3) programs need to be possible to administer by non-professionals. In this study the research group aim to adapt and test the effect of the Body Project, by the pilot study the "Healthy Sport Project", in elite junior athletes attending specialized junior sport high schools (age 14). The final goal for this project group is to create an effective preventive program for body dissatisfaction and DE/EDs in young athletes of both sexes and in mixed sports, and which may be administered by the schoolteachers.

Eating Disorders, Body Dissatisfaction, Disordered Eating, Adolescent - Emotional Problem, Athletic Injuries

eating disorders, disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, figure idealisation, mental health, prevention, athlete, sport, adolescent, elite sport

A cohort of athletes receive intervention in this pilot study, and changes from pre to post intervention are evaluated

2 interactive information lectures (given per class of 30 pupils), and 4 interactive workshops (given to sex-homogenous groups of 10 pupils). One per week, a total of 6 weeks with intervention.

9 Questions on eating restriction, on worries for body weight and appearance. Rated by number of days the different content has been relevant. By Fairburn and Beglin, 2008

10 Questions on body acceptance, rated by a 5 point Likert Scale (never - always). By Halliwell et al 2017.

10 Questions from subscales of SATAQ-4 (thinness idealisation and muscularity idealization), rated by 5 point Likert Scale. By Schaefer et al 2015

Focus group interview following a semistructured manual; asking for experiences with participation in the "Healthy Sport Project"

Questions on meal frequency (numbers); frequency of intake of fruit and vegetables (number of portions); frequency of intake of dairy products (number of portions); frequency of intake of fish (number of portions)

Inclusion Criteria: pupil at the recruited Sport Jr High School Exclusion Criteria: no informed consent from parents not willing to participate a diagnosis of an eating disorder and being under (or waiting for) treatment