Elite athletes would be viewed by most of the general population as “healthy”. However, the eating behaviors of some athletes may be associated with harm, seen as disordered eating, or may even be part of a clinical condition such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa.
Athletes and Eating Disorders
Studies show that athletes are two to three times more likely to develop an eating disorder than the general public. While professional help for eating disorders is available, there are few prevention programs, many barriers to treatment, and recovery can be elusive. As a result, athletes continue to struggle, and many experience devastating consequences to health and performance. A 2004 Norwegian study on the link between athletes and eating disorders concluded that they are nearly three times more likely to have an eating disorder than the average person. The study found that 14 percent of the 1,620 athletes evaluated had an eating disorder, compared to only 5 percent of the general population.
Sports and Eating Disorders
“Eating disorders occur in all sports, but sports with the greatest risk for eating disorders include those referred to as lean sports,” says Ron Thompson, PhD, a consultant psychologist to the Indiana University Athletic Department who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders. Lean sports are sports that have a weight-class requirement or for which a low body weight or “lean body” is believed to give a competitive advantage. Those include gymnastics, diving, rowing, ballet, running, cycling, jockeying, wrestling, and martial arts. Eating disorders also tend to develop more in athletes who play judged sports than refereed sports. Thirteen percent of athletes in judged sports have eating disorders, compared to 3 percent in refereed sports, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
Risk Factors for Athletes
- Sports that emphasize appearance, weight requirements, or muscularity – such as gymnastics, diving, bodybuilding, or wrestling.
- Sports that focus on the individual rather than the entire team – such as gymnastics, running, figure skating, dance or diving – as opposed to teams sports such as basketball or soccer.
- Endurance sports such as track and field, running, or swimming.
- Overvalued belief that lower body weight will improve performance.
- Training for a sport since childhood or being an elite athlete.
- Low self-esteem; family dysfunction, including parents who live through the success of their child in sport; families with eating disorders; chronic dieting; history of physical or sexual abuse; peer, family, and cultural pressures to be thin; and other traumatic life experiences.
- Coaches who focus primarily on success and performance rather than on the athlete as a whole person.
- Three risk factors thought to particularly contribute to the vulnerability of female athletes to develop an eating disorder are social influences emphasizing thinness, performance anxiety, and negative self-appraisal of athletic achievement. A fourth factor is identity solely being based on participation in athletics.
If you notice any of these symptoms in yourself or a loved one, the first thing you should do is seek medical attention. The National Eating Disorders Association is a good online resource for athletes and coaches to understand how to prevent, recognize, and treat potential eating disorders.