Eating Behaviour among Disabled Athletes in Malaysia

Background: Nutrition has always been associated with eating behaviour. The eating behaviour can impact not only the normal population but also athletes' population including disabled athletes too. Athletes have a higher tendency to unhealthy eating behaviour due to intense pressure and competitive environment in sports. It is important to identify the types of eating behaviour among disabled athletes to prevent eating disorder that could affect their performance. Thus, this study aims to identify the types of eating behaviour among disabled athletes in Malaysia.

Methods: This study involved 93 disabled athletes in Malaysia. The setting of the study is at National Sports Council, Malaysia. The data obtained are analysed using chi-square test using SPSS.

Results: This study shows that the most common types of eating behaviour among disabled athletes are emotional eating (37.6%), followed by uncontrolled eating (34.3%) and cognitive restraint (28%). Most of the overweight and obese disabled athletes are prone to emotional eating (19.4%) as compared to non-overweight athletes (18.3%).

Conclusion: As a conclusion, recognising the eating behaviour in disabled athletes is important as more effective and innovative interventions and measures can be undertaken to prevent eating disorder which can enhance sports performance.