Female Athletes And Eating Disorders Essay

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Eating Disorders in Female Athletes
Females have struggled with their identity as well as their appearance on the athletic field. However female student athletes have struggled with trying to be the perfect athlete. Female athletes are at greater risk for getting eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating because of the pressures sports bring but treatment helps the ones suffering overcome the disorder.
Many female athletes feel pressured into fitting into the stereotypical appearance. Being thin and toned is what females assume looks the best for athletes. However, with females lowering their self-esteem just to make themselves look more valuable, consequences or conflicts might follow. These conflicts may consist of eating
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A standard treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy. Student athletes often resist treatment because they fear that professionals will not support or understand the importance of sport in their lives. (Thompson). Online learning resources help to determine what kind of eating disorder the patient has and how to get them help. It also helps the doctor or therapist get track of their progress. The first test is the eating attitudes test. This identifies abnormal eating attitudes and behaviors such as skipping meals, constantly looking at body image in the mirror, and excessive weight training. (“Centre for Eating”). Next, is the eating disorder quality of life questionnaire. This declares the person with the eating disorders issues. This also brings out the quality and meaning of life in eating disorders. The Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa Stages of Change Questionnaire are two questionnaires that are used to help patients recover from these eating disorders. Lastly, there is the Normal Eating Scale. This was for dietitian use and this questionnaire was to measure attitudes to nutrition. A healthy diet is also associated to the normal eating scale. (“Centre for …show more content…
Prevention is ways to prevent eating disorders in a specific population. Universal Prevention is a type of prevention that is aimed to prevent the development of eating disorders in large groups. Universal prevention can be through educational programs for larger groups. (“What is Prevention”). Selective prevention is to help prevent eating disorders individuals who do not have symptoms but who are at high risk due to genetics. The last type of prevention is indicated or targeted prevention. This type of prevention targets people who are at high risk due to uncommon behaviors or indicated signs. The goal of this prevention is to stop the development of any kind of eating disorder or disordered eating. For example, body dissatisfaction is an indicated sign for indicated or targeted prevention. (“What is

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