Eating habits, weight loss habits, and injury prevalence in collegiate wrestling

Abstract

Objective: Wrestling is one of many combat sports that place an emphasis on weight management to participate.

Purpose: To investigate the eating habits, weight-loss strategies, and injury prevalence in an NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Program.

Methods: Forty young healthy males were recruited to participate in a survey that analyzed eating habits, weight loss habits, and injury prevalence.

Results: Twenty-six individuals participated in the study. Nineteen of the participants sustained an injury during the season. Food restriction, fluid restriction, and exercise were reported as the most used strategy for rapid weight loss. The participants scored higher in binge eating (M = 15.5, SD = 3.14), cognitive restraint (M = 9, SD = 1.9), purging (M = 7.8, SD = 2.3), restricting (M = 9.808, SD = 2.5), excessive exercise (M = 12, SD = 1.76), and negative attitudes toward obesity (M = 10.2, SD = 2.5) than the norms of college males.

Conclusions: The results indicate that collegiate wrestlers are more susceptible to disorder eating than average college males. Further research is needed to investigate these findings. This supports the re-evaluation of current NCAA protocols for weight loss and weigh-ins for competition.