Objectives: The pilot study aimed to determine the Anorexia Readiness Syndrome severity in a population of children aged 10 to 17 years according to general and sport class attendance.
Methods: The following instrumentswere used: the Anorexia Readiness Syndrome inventory (SGA-12), to identify anorexic tendencies in adolescents aged 10 to 17 years, the Eating Disorders in Youth - Questionnaire (EDY-Q) inventory by Hilbert and van Dyck (the results of work on the Polish version of the instrument - in preparation) to assess eating disorders in children, and a questionnaire to obtain the respondents' details such as the date of birth, gender, chronic diseases, height and weight.
Results: In the study sample, a higher ARS severity was observed among the girls compared to the boys. Higher levels of anorexia readiness were seen in physically active subjects with a lower body mass index. The SGA-12 inventory does not correlate with the EDY-Q-PL, but factor I "anorexic tendencies and statements" demonstrates important relations to the total score of the EDY-Q-PL.
Conclusions: It seems that the SGA-12 inventory can help identify ARS children and adolescents (including boys) to a greater extent than the previous tool (Questionnaire for testing individual attitude towards food); it helps determine the severity of anorexic behaviours within two factors and suggests the areas of intervention aimed at psychoprevention.
Keywords: Anorexia Readiness Syndrome; diagnosis; physical activity.