[Sportstherapy for outpatients with eating disorders: a pilot project]

Many patients with Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa (AN, BN) engage in sport and physical activity in an excessive and compulsive manner, mostly to influence weight and shape. Many of them experience guilt in case of not exercising. However, sport and physical exercise can also have a positive effect on mental illness by influencing mood, sense of self-esteem and body experience. Until now, only few programs for eating disorder patients exist which aim at changing physical activity behavior and use sport and exercise activities in a therapeutic way. We developed a sport-therapeutic program designed for outpatients with eating disorders. It supervises sport and physical exercise and helps patients to use sport and exercise in a healthy manner. This report presents the program's manual and first experiences based on half-standardized interviews.