Young Athlete Body Project - Prevention of Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Disorders Among Adolescent Athletes

Body dissatisfaction is common among adolescents and is a well-established risk factor for the development of eating disorders. Young athletes may be particularly vulnerable because they are exposed to appearance-related pressures from both society and sport environments. Despite the high prevalence of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders among young athletes, there is a lack of evidence-based, large scale prevention programs specifically designed for young athletes. The Young Athlete Body Project is an age- and sport-adapted version of the evidence-based Body Project, a cognitive dissonance-based prevention program that has been shown to reduce body dissatisfaction, internalization of appearance ideals, and eating disorder risk in adolescents and adults from diverse population groups. A pilot study of the Young Athlete Body Project among adolescent athletes demonstrated that the program was acceptable and perceived as beneficial by participants. The findings also indicated promising improvements in the internalization of the thin body ideal and increased awareness of appearance-related pressures, supporting the need for further evaluation in a larger randomized controlled trial. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Young Athlete Body Project among adolescent athletes attending sports-specialized lower and upper secondary schools in Norway. The program aims to promote positive body image and body acceptance, reduce the internalization of appearance ideals, strengthen resistance to appearance-related pressures, and prevent body dissatisfaction and eating disorders among adolescent athletes. The intervention program will contribute with new evidence-based knowledge on the effect of a prevention program targeting body dissatisfaction and eating disorders among adolescents athletes.