Effects of exercise motivations on body image and eating habits/behaviours: A systematic review

Aim: The quality of exercise motivations may undermine body image and eating habits/behaviours. This systematic review summarizes the state of the scientific evidence on the effects of exercise motivations on body image and eating habits/behaviours. Methods: This review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42019129904). Three electronic databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, SportDiscus) were searched using combinations of terms concerning: (a) the population of interest (adults, exercisers), (b) the independent variables (eg, exercise autonomous motivations) and (c) the outcomes of interest (eg, body image, eating habits). No study design restrictions were implemented. To be included, empirical studies had to be published up to June 2019, in English, in peer-reviewed journals/theses and analyse associations between exercise motivations and body image or eating habits/behaviours. Study quality was assessed using the EPHPP Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. Two authors performed all steps. Outcome data were combined narratively. Results: Of 168 records, 26 were included in this review: 22 analysing links between exercise motivations and body image and 11 exploring links between exercise motivations and eating habits/behaviours. Autonomous motivations (eg, for pleasure, health, wellbeing) and health-focused exercise were associated with positive body image and healthy eating habits/behaviours, whereas exercising for appearance-related and other controlled reasons was inversely related to both outcomes. Conclusions: Better-quality exercise motivations (ie, autonomous) seem to result in healthier body image and eating outcomes. Further research is still recommended to explore these associations in more depth. Nevertheless, these findings suggest that future interventions should promote individuals' autonomy, competence and relatedness to foster autonomous motivations.