Abstract

There is a lack of information in Hispanic American (HA) athletes regarding body weight concerns, eating habits, exercise habits, and high-risk behaviors. The aim of this study was to compare body composition, eating habits, exercise habits, and high-risk behavior in Caucasian American (CA), African American (AA), and HA female athletes. Being Hispanic significantly contributed to the variance in physical characteristics (p <0.01> for all) and variables related to body weight concerns (p<0.05> for all), eating habits (p<0.05> for all), exercise habits (p<0.05> for all), and high-risk behaviors (p< 0.05 for all). These results demonstrated that HA female athletes had significantly different behaviors than CA and AA female athletes.

Keywords:Female athletes; Body composition; Eating habits; Exercise habits; High risk behaviors; Race; Ethnic, Minority