The Role of Emotional Eating in Predicting Physical Activity and Psychological Health of Iranian Elite Athletes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective :

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in home quarantine, which affected elite athletes in terms of physical and mental health and nutrition. This study aims to investigate the role of emotional eating in predicting the physical activity and psychological health of elite athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.

Methods :

This is a descriptive/correlational survey. The study population includes all elite athletes in Iran. Using Cochran’s formula, the sample size was determined 384, and samples were selected by random cluster sampling method. To measure the physical activity of participants, the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ) was used. The impact of event scale-revised (IES-R) and the depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21 (DASS-21) were used to measure the psychological health of participants. To measure their emotional eating, the emotional eater questionnaire (EEQ) was used. Pearson correlation test, linear regression analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance were used to analyze the data in SPSS software.

Results :

There was a relationship between IPAQ and EEQ score (R=0.594, P=0.027) and a negative and significant relationship between body mass index and EEQ score (R=-0.710, P=0.019). There is also a positive and significant relationship between psychological health indicators and EEQ score (R=0.113, P=0.026 for DASS-21; R=0.131, P=0.010 for IES-R).

Conclusion:

 Emotional eating in the quarantine during the pandemic has an effective role in predicting physical activity and psychological health of elite athletes in Iran.