It’s hard to know just how many athletic individuals are troubled by eating disorders, but studies show that it may be as many as almost half. And it is estimated that ¼ of those affected are males!
It has long been recognized that eating disorders contribute to loss of the menstrual cycle and bone loss in women. This is caused by inadequate “energy availability,” meaning that the body doesn’t have enough fuel left over after exercise to attend to its other needs. In response, hormones responsible for a normal menstrual cycle are disrupted and bone becomes less dense which may result in stress fractures. The triad of inadequate energy availability, menstrual dysfunction, and bone loss in athletes is termed the Female Athlete Triad.
We now know that the health consequences of under-eating go far beyond menstrual health and bone, and that men are effected as well as women. Inadequate energy availability can have a negative impact on multiple organs and metabolic processes including immune function, heart health, gut health and mental health. An expert panel convened by the International Olympic Committee recently coined the term Reduced Energy Availability in Sport (RED-S) to describe the broader outcome and the need to include male athletes.
Sports medicine experts agree that prevention is key. Athletes, coaches, parents, and sport administrators must be educated about the risk of extreme dieting. The role of healthy eating in exercise performance must be emphasized, and body weight must be de-emphasized.
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Myths abound in the areas of weight management and sports nutrition. Accurate, science-based information about nutrition for performance and health must be delivered by a qualified professional, such as a registered dietitian-nutritionist with board certification in sports nutrition (RDN-CSSD).
Others can help. Coaches can reinforce nutrition education messages by encouraging healthy foods and adequate fluids at practice. Anyone working with athletes should avoid unhelpful comments on body size. Athletes who would benefit from weight loss should be offered guidance on how to accomplish this healthfully, without resorting to fad diets which encourage the elimination of entire food groups.
A part of the diagnostic criteria for eating disorders is that self-esteem and self-worth us unduly influenced by perception of body size and shape. Parents, coaches, and medical professionals need to join together the make sure that weight issues are addressed without judgement.