Physical exercise and nutritional therapy in the treatment of eating disorders

Abstract

Introduction. Eating Disorders (ED) are a severe mental illness that causes physical and psychosocial problems. This illness has a higher prevalence among young women, and between athletes. cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the current treatment for this type of disorder. However, more and more programs are including physical exercise (PE) and nutritional therapy (TN) for eating disorders treatment. Objective. To carry out an exploratory systematic review of the literature that allows us to know the current state of intervention programs through physical exercise and nutritional therapy for the treatment of eating disorders. Materials and methods. For the reference search thesame search phrase was used. The terms were entered in English in the following computerized databases: SCOPUS, Web of Science, and PubMed. To limit the search, four inclusion criteria were introduced. Results. The review included five scientific articles related to the study topic, which met the inclusion criteria. Conclusion. Intervention programs for the treatment of eating disorders that include physical exercise and nutritional therapy are shown as an alternative or complementary tool to conventional therapy. These programs involve a reduction in the severity of ED symptoms and an improvement in anthropometric parameters and physical condition. More studies that combine PE and TN programs for people with ED are required.