The Female Athlete Triad is a three-component disorder that is highly unknown, but all too common in female athletes. The disorder is often unrecognized by coaches and doctors, which causes a huge risk for young athletes. In order to be diagnosed with the Female Athlete Triad, a female must meet the criteria of presenting disordered eating or “low energy availability,” amenorrhea, and osteoporosis (Payne & Kirchner, page 187.) However, early warning signs and treatment can lessen the severity and consequences of the disorder.
The earliest sign of the Female Athlete Triad is amenorrhea, or the absence of menstrual cycle. Amenorrhea could be primary which means a female has never gone through puberty, or secondary, losing a menstrual cycle for …show more content…
When taken to the extremes, both of these behaviors can turn into eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. Oftentimes, athletes do not fully meet the criteria to be diagnosed with eating disorders. Anorexia Nervosa is the refusal to maintain a certain healthy weight, and the denial and fear of weight gain despite being at an unhealthily low weight already. According to Hobart & Smucker, Anorexia has subtypes such as binge-purge and restrictive, but both types have the fear of gaining weight and refusal to gain (Hobart & Smucker.) Bulimia Nervosa is a disorder with a sense of lack of control over what one is eating, often bingeing and then purging in ways such as vomiting, exercise abuse, diuretics, …show more content…
A treatment team may be important consisting of coaches, athletic trainers, a dietitian and therapist. Dietitians can help to teach athletes healthy nutrition to repair their bone density loss and make them stronger in their sport (O’Brien, Kathleen.) Coaches are sometimes one of the closest people to athletes, so therefore their support may be vital. A therapist can help to work with athletes on their need to be the best at their sport or their desire to maintain a certain physique or weight. Sport usually needs to be stopped until health begins to increase, and this is when a hard-driven athlete will usually resist the plan, and a therapist will be
The earliest sign of the Female Athlete Triad is amenorrhea, or the absence of menstrual cycle. Amenorrhea could be primary which means a female has never gone through puberty, or secondary, losing a menstrual cycle for …show more content…
When taken to the extremes, both of these behaviors can turn into eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. Oftentimes, athletes do not fully meet the criteria to be diagnosed with eating disorders. Anorexia Nervosa is the refusal to maintain a certain healthy weight, and the denial and fear of weight gain despite being at an unhealthily low weight already. According to Hobart & Smucker, Anorexia has subtypes such as binge-purge and restrictive, but both types have the fear of gaining weight and refusal to gain (Hobart & Smucker.) Bulimia Nervosa is a disorder with a sense of lack of control over what one is eating, often bingeing and then purging in ways such as vomiting, exercise abuse, diuretics, …show more content…
A treatment team may be important consisting of coaches, athletic trainers, a dietitian and therapist. Dietitians can help to teach athletes healthy nutrition to repair their bone density loss and make them stronger in their sport (O’Brien, Kathleen.) Coaches are sometimes one of the closest people to athletes, so therefore their support may be vital. A therapist can help to work with athletes on their need to be the best at their sport or their desire to maintain a certain physique or weight. Sport usually needs to be stopped until health begins to increase, and this is when a hard-driven athlete will usually resist the plan, and a therapist will be