Dylan Bettencourt
A recent study has found that anxiety, depression and eating disorders are a significant issue for professional female footballers competing in England’s elite competitions.
The study explored mental health issues among the footballers, revealing that 36% of the women suffered eating disorder symptoms.
Of the 115 women who participated in the survey, 11% indicated that they have shown signs of anxiety with a further 11% saying they suffer with moderate depression.
While the anxiety and depression rates have been similar in other sporting fields across genders, it is the eating disorder figures that raised concerns.
“Our findings reported that 35% of footballers were currently trying to lose weight and 45% reported attempting to lose weight in the previous four weeks,” said lead author Carly Perry, from the School of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Central Lancashire.
“Importantly, this data was collected during the season.”
Perry added that she was concerned that eating disorders have become normalised in the competitive sporting environment.
“We believe this finding warrants further investigation into how and why players are trying to lose weight during the season. It is possible the disorders are normalised in the footballers’ sporting environment,” she said.
The study also found that the combination of anxiety and depression has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Perry said that the new demands placed upon elite female football through media roles, fan engagement, sponsorship and commercial partnerships resulting from the rapid professionalisation of women’s football in England, increased anxiety symptoms.
The study also suggested that the mental health of players depends on how regularly they are in the starting line-ups.
“Footballers who are not regularly starting games may require additional checking from staff to allow for prevention and early identification of mental health problems,” Perry said.
Image source: @Olympics
