Student Information

Kimberly A. CallanderFollow

Faculty

Health Science

Supervisor Name

Dr. Greggory Ross, Dr. Eva Pila

Keywords

Eating Disorders, Canadian Athletes, Sport History, Early Life, Body Image

Loading...

Media is loading
 

Description

There has been a lack of appreciation of the prevalence of eating disorders in Canadian sport history within the literature. Thus, in continuation of my previous research on sport-related disordered eating, a case study was conducted based on the career of Canadian Olympian Charlene Wong. The purpose of this case study was to identify the social causes of eating disorders in action.

Through a thorough analysis of interviews and newspaper articles, the early life of Charlene Wong was broken down to understand the development of her maladjusted eating patterns. The results demonstrated that the circumstances in which Wong was encouraged to perform under from as young as 10, initiated her disordered eating. Forces such as thin ideals, perfectionism, and beauty comparison placed Wong in a position to take extreme measures to look and perform her best.

Applying a historical lens to a true battle with an eating disorder improves the understanding of the reality of disordered eating in Canadian sport, as well as increases the conversation on the contexts in which this condition is most prevalent.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Document Type

Video

Share

COinS
 

Eating Disorders in Canadian Sport History: An Introductory Case Study on Charlene Wong

There has been a lack of appreciation of the prevalence of eating disorders in Canadian sport history within the literature. Thus, in continuation of my previous research on sport-related disordered eating, a case study was conducted based on the career of Canadian Olympian Charlene Wong. The purpose of this case study was to identify the social causes of eating disorders in action.

Through a thorough analysis of interviews and newspaper articles, the early life of Charlene Wong was broken down to understand the development of her maladjusted eating patterns. The results demonstrated that the circumstances in which Wong was encouraged to perform under from as young as 10, initiated her disordered eating. Forces such as thin ideals, perfectionism, and beauty comparison placed Wong in a position to take extreme measures to look and perform her best.

Applying a historical lens to a true battle with an eating disorder improves the understanding of the reality of disordered eating in Canadian sport, as well as increases the conversation on the contexts in which this condition is most prevalent.