Reported reasons for dieting among athletes (ATH) and controls (CON) that diet now and/or have dieted before ⩾3 times.
| Variable | Girls | Boys | Difference: boys/girls | |||||
| Athletes | Controls | Difference | Athletes | Controls | Difference | Athletes | Controls | |
| N = 65 | N = 89 | N = 29 | N = 40 | |||||
| Heavy | 41 (74.5) | 63 (75.9) | 14 (51.9) | 21 (65.6) | * | |||
| Too fat | 51 (87.9) | 73 (86.9) | 14 (51.9) | 22 (68.8) | *** | * | ||
| Enhance performance | 39 (72.2) | 35 (43.8) | ** | 25 (89.3) | 24 (82.8) | *** | ||
| Improve of appearance | 57 (95.0) | 83 (97.6) | 20 (69.0) | 31 (96.9) | ** | ** | ||
| Told by: | ||||||||
| Coach/teacher | 7 (13.2) | 3 (3.7) | * | 9 (33.3) | 4 (12.5) | * | * | |
| Family members | 13 (24.5) | 17 (20.2) | 7 (26.9) | 7 (21.9) | ||||
| Team mates | – | 2 (2.5) | 3 (11.1) | 3 (9.4) | * | |||
| Friends/boy-/girlfriend | 1 (1.9) | 6 (7.4) | – | 4 (12.5) | ||||
Values are given in absolute numbers and valid percentages (%), that is the percentage when only cases without missing values are considered. Range of missing N (2–13).
*p<0.05, **p<0.01,***p<0.001.
†Multiple answers were allowed.