Eating Disorders in Athletes

Eating disorders tend to affect athletes under the age of 30 years old. Male and female participants are both prone to this issue. "Eating disorders may arise through the self-perceptions of the athlete as to the appearance of his or her body, or through the direction of a coach, the stresses of the competition, or similar pressures." Athletes are more vulnerable than most to eating disorders because many athletics require a certain body type. The commitments elite athletes must live up to, the physical demands and the prospect of achievement tends to attract perfectionists. They also endure pressure from trainers and coaches to record personal data of their weight, dimensions of the body, physique, and percent body fat. Athletes can become obsessed with their bodies and pick them apart. Many feel having the perfect body will help them win the competitions or gain support. Many athletes are even concerned about parts of their physical appearance that will have no impact on their particular performance. The athletics in which appearance is part of the score or is present by implication tends to have the most athletes with eating disorders. In dance girls wear very fitted clothes and in many times short clothes and feel judged. In gymnastics they must wear leotards. Man of these athletes have eating disorders.
Athletics with weight limits also tend to cause problems. Sports like wrestling and boxing where one competes against their weight must not fluctuate. Also, there are some sports that require the athlete to be very lean. Anorexia is the disorder many of them turn to. This is ironic because it destroys the physical systems. Anorexia can lead to malnutrition, an interruption in the women's periods, risk of osteoporosis, or even death. Bulimia also does not help the athlete to succeed because the athlete will have injuries in their mouth and esophagus. They will also many times be depressed and dehydrated. Many athletes also go on crash diets where they disrupt their normal eating in order to have rapid weight loss. This denies the body of essential fuels, vitamins, and minerals. This will also not contribute to any success of the athlete.