Body image disturbance in equestrian athletes
As all equestrians know, not only the horse, but also the rider will be evaluated when riding in competition. In many sports where aesthetics are important there occur psychological problems because of the high pressure. The prevalence of psycological problems such as eating disorders and body image disorting in equestrians has not been examined in any study before.
Women are generally more self-aware than men. It is unclear whether athletes and non-athletes differ in the opinion on their apperances. In the literature you can find a link between tasks (such as apperances or the nature of physical activity) and contextual pressures (coaches, bullies, judge) to fit the expectations of a person regarding their physical appearance.
The participants of this study were 138 horse-riding (english riding and western riding) students from seven universities throughout the United States. One-third rode western, the others rode english.
In this study the researches wanted to calculate the risk for the total sample (based on their age and their riding disiplinne. Besides this they wanted to compare the demograpic information, BMI, question surveys and academic state. The surveys and BMI were used to classify at risk and not at risk for disordered eating.
As found in other literature there is a link between aesthetic performance sports and psychological problems as mentioned earlier. The participation in high pressure enviroment may place pressure on femele athletes. The risk prevalence was simular to other sports regarding physical appearance. The article states that equestian athletes should be screened for eating disorder risk and that education programs on weight management, body image and disordered eating may be helpfull for them.
https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/recovery/self-help-tools-skills-tips
Have you ever doubted yourself or your appearance? And how do/did you deal with it?
Expert opinion:
This is the very first research on equestrians regarding psycological problems such as eating disorders and body image disorting.Although the title suggests that more things are looked at than eating disorders, this is not entirely correct. It's good that they did research on this topic, especially since there are many girls riding horses whilst being in a vulnerable age.
With all the social media of today, it is difficult not to be concerned with how much better others look. I think that the proposal from the writers of the article to start with education programs is good, but premature. Because too little research has been done on this subject.
In my opinion it's a good start for further investigation!
> From: Torres-McGehee et al., NATA 46 (2011) 431-437. All rights reserved to National Athletic Trainers' Association, Inc. Click here for the online summary.
