The Development and Validation of a Disordered Eating Screening Tool for Current and Former Athletes: The Athletic Disordered Eating (ADE) Screening Tool.

BACKGROUND: Current and former athletes are one of the most at-risk population groups for disordered eating (DE), impacting their dietary practices, body composition, performance and health during and following their athletic careers. Few comprehensive DE screening tools exist for this group. To help address this, the current study utilised a mixed-methods approach of Classic Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) to develop and validate a DE screening tool suitable for current and former athletes. METHODS: Novel scale development methodologies were used to develop and assess the validity (content, face, cross-cultural, construct), test-retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, factor analysis and Rasch analysis of a new DE scale. RESULTS: A new validated Athletic Disordered Eating (ADE) screening tool was created, with 17 items and four subscales (food control, bingeing, body control, body discontent), with an internal consistency reliability of 0.91, excellent content and construct validity, an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient of 0.97 and excellent Rasch model fit. CONCLUSIONS: The ADE screening tool has been dually developed for research purposes and as a clinically applicable screening tool to detect DE in current and former athletes and is suitable for a global use across sporting categories, diverse genders and levels of competition.

Retired Athletes and the Intersection of Food and Body: A Systematic Literature Review Exploring Compensatory Behaviours and Body Change.

BACKGROUND: Retirement from elite sport is a unique transition that influences significant identity, body, and lifestyle changes. This mixed-studies systematic literature review reports on athletic retirement, maladaptive eating behaviours, and body dissatisfaction. METHODS: The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed to search the following databases: Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, EBSCO Host, Sport Discus, and CINAHL. Sixteen studies were synthesised and contrasted through thematic analysis to develop three overarching themes. RESULTS: The three themes that arose include body dissatisfaction and grief, disordered eating and compensation, and long term influence of sporting culture. Maladaptive and compensatory behaviours can arise from sustained athletic identity, body grief, lack of education, and contradictory body ideals. CONCLUSION: The concept Athletic Body Transition is defined as exploring how a lack of body acceptance may lead to maladaptive behaviours related to food, exercise, and body arising in this transitory period. This review identifies the need for sporting organisations and health professionals to acknowledge this significant transition in regards to athletes' relationship with food and body subsequent to a sporting career.

Dietary Intakes of Professional and Semi-Professional Team Sport Athletes Do Not Meet Sport Nutrition Recommendations-A Systematic Literature Review.

Background: to develop sport-specific and effective dietary advice, it is important to understand the dietary intakes of team sport athletes. This systematic literature review aims to (1) assess the dietary intakes of professional and semi-professional team sport athletes and (2) to identify priority areas for dietetic intervention. METHODS: an extensive search of MEDLINE, Sports DISCUS, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus databases in April-May 2018 was conducted and identified 646 studies. Included studies recruited team sport, competitive (i.e. professional or semi-professional) athletes over the age of 18 years. An assessment of dietary intake in studies was required and due to the variability of data (i.e. nutrient and food group data) a meta-analysis was not undertaken. Two independent authors extracted data using a standardised process. RESULTS: 21 (n = 511) studies that assessed dietary intake of team sport athletes met the inclusion criteria. Most reported that professional and semi-professional athletes' dietary intakes met or exceeded recommendations during training and competition for protein and/or fat, but not energy and carbohydrate. Limitations in articles include small sample sizes, heterogeneity of data and existence of underreporting. CONCLUSIONS: this review highlights the need for sport-specific dietary recommendations that focus on energy and carbohydrate intake. Further exploration of factors influencing athletes' dietary intakes including why athletes' dietary intakes do not meet energy and/or carbohydrate recommendations is required.