Faculty
Health Science
Supervisor Name
Dr. Greggory Ross, Dr. Eva Pila
Keywords
Eating Disorders, Canadian Athletes, Sport History, Early Life, Body Image
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
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Document Type
Video
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.