Scant evidence for addiction to exercise among women

The pathological status of exercise dependence 2000; 34:125-32

There is little evidence for exercise addiction among women, unless they suffer from an eating disorder such as bulimia or anorexia, reveals research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The findings come in the wake of concerns that the compulsive need to exercise is, in fact, a disease, and that women might be susceptible because of their preoccupation with body image.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham studied the exercise patterns of women who were members of sports clubs and classes, professional athletes, and women with eating disorders. The women were classified as either "primary exercise dependent," meaning that they exercised excessively, or as "secondary exercise dependent," meaning that their excessive exercising was associated with an eating disorder, or as simply having an eating disorder, or as a control group having none of the above. Detailed analyses were made of psychological symptoms, personality traits, self image and self esteem, exercise beliefs and levels of physical activity over the preceding year.

The results showed that apart from more menstrual abnormalities, there was virtually no difference between the "excessive" exercisers and the "normal" women on any of the criteria assessed. But the secondary exercise dependent group had much higher scores for psychological problems, neuroticism, tendency to addictive behaviour, lower self esteem and greater preoccupation with self image. And their scores were similar to those of the eating disorders group.

The authors conclude that people classified as excessive exercisers have none of the personality traits or psychological problems that would merit a description of their behaviour as addictive or psychologically unhealthy. In fact, these women enjoy healthy self-esteem. "Taken together...these results argue against the notion that primary exercise dependence is a pathology, and certainly undermine the claim that it is a prevalent pathology."

Contact:

Dr Diane Bamber, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham.
D.J.Bamber@bham.ac.uk