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Responses of fitness center employees to cases of suspected eating disorders or excessive exercise.

ABSTRACT: Background:While exercise and physical activity are important parts of a healthy life, there is evidence that some individuals exercise to a degree which may jeopardize their health. These individuals may in some cases be exercising to lose weight or compensate binge eating episodes as part of an eating disorder. Others may experience an addiction-like relationship with exercise. Fitness center employees are ideally placed to observe these forms of unhealthy behavior, and are responsible for ensuring that clients do not put themselves at undue risk; however, to date, no study has addressed both eating disorders and excessive exercise. Therefore, the aim of our study is to determine whether these employees report incidences of these issues, and if they believe they can differentiate between them. Methods:One-hundred-and-forty fitness centers in the German-speaking regions of Switzerland were contacted. Of these, 99 employees (60 men, 39 women, Mage =?33.33?years, SD?=?12.02) responded to an online questionnaire. The questionnaire briefly described the two issues of interest (eating disorders and excessive exercise), and then invited respondents to complete a number of questions detailing whether they had experience with these issues, and how they dealt with them. Results:Approximately 75% of the employees had suspected a client of having an eating disorder or exercising excessively, and 65% of these respondents confronted the client at least once. Interestingly, respondents reported clearly that they felt able to differentiate between the two types of disorder. Older respondents were significantly more likely to have suspicions and act on them. However, less than half of the respondents were aware of guidelines addressing this issue, and the majority desired more information about how to identify and address both disorders. Conclusions:Swiss fitness center employees frequently encounter individuals who they suspect of exercising excessively, or suffering from an eating disorder. While they often confront these individuals, they would like more detailed information about how to manage this process. Given that both disorders can potentially lead to severe health consequences, a detailed description of symptoms, management techniques and resources should be a feature in all Swiss fitness center guidelines.

SUBMITTER: Colledge F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7050120 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Responses of fitness center employees to cases of suspected eating disorders or excessive exercise.

Colledge Flora F Cody Robyn R Pühse Uwe U Gerber Markus M

Journal of eating disorders 20200302

<h4>Background</h4>While exercise and physical activity are important parts of a healthy life, there is evidence that some individuals exercise to a degree which may jeopardize their health. These individuals may in some cases be exercising to lose weight or compensate binge eating episodes as part of an eating disorder. Others may experience an addiction-like relationship with exercise. Fitness center employees are ideally placed to observe these forms of unhealthy behavior, and are responsible ...[more]

PMID: 32140227

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Project description:Background: The protective properties of high physical fitness levels on health are manifest independently of age, sex, fatness, smoking, alcohol consumption, and other clinical factors. However, women are less active than men, which contributes to low physical fitness and a high risk of CVD. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze the effect of two exercise interventions on health-related physical fitness in sedentary employed females. Methods: A total of 98 physically inactive adult women were randomly assigned to 3 study groups: the control group (CG) = 31, the endurance training group based on Zumba Fitness® classes (ET; n = 39), and the concurrent training group that had an extra muscle-strengthening workout after the Zumba Fitness® class (CnT; n = 28). Body composition (BMI, waist circumference), motor fitness (one-leg stand test), musculoskeletal fitness (shoulder-neck mobility, handgrip strength test, jump and reach test, and dynamic sit-up test), and cardiorespiratory fitness (2-km test and estimated VO2 max) were assessed with the ALPHA-Fit test battery for adults. Results: Both interventions showed a significant improvement in the majority of health-related fitness and body composition variables/test (waist circumference: ET = -2.275 ± 0.95, p = 0.02, CnT = -2.550 ± 1.13, p = 0.03; one-stand leg test: ET = 13.532 ± 2.65, p < 0.001; CnT = 11.656 ± 2.88, p < 0.001; shoulder-neck mobility: ET = 1.757 ± 0.44, p < 0.001, CnT = 2.123 ± 0.47, p < 0.001; handgrip test: 0.274 ± 0.08, p < 0.001, CnT = 0.352 ± 0.08, p < 0.001; dynamic sit-up: ET = 1.769 ± 0.45, p < 0.001, CnT = -1.836 ± 0.49, p < 0.001; 2-km test time: -1.280 ± 0.25, p < 0.001, CnT = -1.808 ± 0.28, p < 0.001; estimated VO2 max: ET = 1.306 ± 0.13, p < 0.001, CnT = 1.191 ± 0.15, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences after the intervention between the two exercise intervention groups. Conclusions: Exercise interventions based on Zumba fitness® or Zumba fitness® combined with an extra muscle-strengthening workout based on bodyweight training exercises are effective strategies to improve the health-related physical fitness in sedentary women employees.

Project description:Background:Dysfunctional thoughts- and use of physical activity (PA) are core symptoms of the eating disorders (ED) bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). The compulsive desire for PA complicates a favourable treatment outcome; hence, regular, adapted PA led by personnel with competence in exercise science is rarely part of treatment of BN and BED. The present study compared cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) with a new treatment combining physical exercise and dietary therapy (PED-t) with respect to the short- and long-term changes in the level of compulsive exercise and actual level of PA in women with BN or BED. Methods:We enrolled 187 women with BN or BED, aged 18-40 years, with BMI 17.5-35, in an outpatient randomised controlled therapy trial. Participants were randomised to PED-t or CBT, while waitlist participants served as a control group during the treatment period. The treatment covered 16 weeks, with 6- and 12 months follow-up, and outcomes included self-reported compulsive exercise (CE) and objectively measured PA, analysed by linear mixed regression models. Results:Both CBT and PED-t reduced CE from baseline (P?<?0.01, Hedges g ~?0.4), but with no difference to control group. Compared to baseline, only PED-t significantly reduced the number of patients who scored above cut-off rating for CE, but with no between-group differences. The proportion of participants complying with the official recommendation for PA neither changed following treatment, nor emerged different between the treatment arms. Conclusion:Both therapies resulted in significant improvements in compulsive exercise, a change not found in the control group, however there were no between-group differences. The findings are tempered by the low statistical power due to a small control group size. The number of participants complying with the recommendation for PA were stable throughout the study, and no change in total PA was found. Presence and intensity of CE decline with treatment, but a need to increase PA towards healthy levels remains unsolved. Trial registration:Approved by the Norwegian Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (ID: 2013/1871, 16th of December 2013); registered in Clinical Trials (ID: NCT02079935, 17th of February 2014).

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Responses of fitness center employees to cases of suspected eating disorders or excessive exercise.

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Responses of fitness center employees to cases of suspected eating disorders or excessive exercise.

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