Prevalence of eating disorders indicators and their relationship with sleep quality in women who practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu: A pilot study

Introduction. The literature presents few findings on the relationship between sleep quality and eating disorders indicators, especially in women fighters. Objective. To compare the sleep quality among women who practice BJJ due to risk behaviors in eating disorders. Method. Twenty-six women who practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) participated in this study. After completing the Free and Informed Consent Form, the participants answered the instruments separately (Eating Attitudes Test and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index). Data were analysed using the unpaired T-test and Pearson’s linear correlation. Results. Twenty-six women who practice BJJ participated in the study. The first group had non-prevalence of eating disorders indicators (n = 14) while the second group had prevalence (n = 12). There was no correlation between sleep quality and eating disorders indicators in none of the groups. Similary, there was no statistical difference between the sleep quality of the two groups; however, both groups were poor sleepers. Discussion and conclusion. Findings suggest that the prevalence of eating disorders indicators is high in women who practice BJJ, however, we did find a significant correlation between eating disorder indicators and sleep quality. Thus, as this is a nascent topic, further research is needed to better clarify this phenomenon.