What are eating disorders? Eating disorders can be hard to explain sometimes. They could be a disturbance to the diet, or unknown because many individuals do not seek treatment. There are a dozen types of eating disorders but the four most common athletes suffer from are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, anorexia athletica . Anorexia Athletica, which have striking similarities to both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. This term arose after an Olympic gymnast, Christy Henrich, died from anorexia nervosa; her death focused the spotlight on the issue of women athletes and eating disorders. Research began and interesting findings came to the forefront. Most of the studies focus on women and specific sports that eating disorders affect most.
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Another theory of eating disorders is that it is their way of taking back control. Intense pressure comes from coaches, parents, teammates and even the media, and the athletes feel as if this is the only part of their lives they can control. With that in mind, I believe that to better the awareness of eating disorders, we need to understand the signs and triggers of eating disorders, decrease the pressures from outside, and give more nutritional advice to collegiate female athletes. Eating disorders are by no means ever considered trendy and a trial and error process to lose weight, but multiplex disorders that can cause serious damage to the body and years of recovery. Traumatic life events can be a trigger of eating disorders, along with everyday life. “Examples of traumatic life events can include school transitions, death of a family member, relationship changes, home and job situations, illness or hospitalization, and sexual abuse or incest” (Life Transitions). Everyday life triggers as researched in Factors …show more content…
“Due to the unique nature of athletes’ experiences compared with their nonathletic counterparts, it appears that more education is needed for coaches and parents of female athletes on the topic of predisposing factors for eating disorder pathology” (Cameselle & Quatromoni). All athletes should have regular checkups with the sports physician at the school or who is on call, along with talking to a sports nutritionist to receive guidance on proper dieting and food choices. Fluids and a well balance diet should be replenished and encouraged before, during, and after a workout. Coaches and school administration should have safe zones for athletes to feel comfortable coming to them if and when they might have an eating disorders. Athletes should never feel uncomfortable to rely on coaching staff, parents, teammates, or anyone when they are in a crisis or in need of professional help. “The main goals for treatment of the female athlete triad are to revert current complications back to previous healthy norms, to establish healthy behaviors related to menstrual function, bone health, and energy availability, and to prevent future complications”
Another theory of eating disorders is that it is their way of taking back control. Intense pressure comes from coaches, parents, teammates and even the media, and the athletes feel as if this is the only part of their lives they can control. With that in mind, I believe that to better the awareness of eating disorders, we need to understand the signs and triggers of eating disorders, decrease the pressures from outside, and give more nutritional advice to collegiate female athletes. Eating disorders are by no means ever considered trendy and a trial and error process to lose weight, but multiplex disorders that can cause serious damage to the body and years of recovery. Traumatic life events can be a trigger of eating disorders, along with everyday life. “Examples of traumatic life events can include school transitions, death of a family member, relationship changes, home and job situations, illness or hospitalization, and sexual abuse or incest” (Life Transitions). Everyday life triggers as researched in Factors …show more content…
“Due to the unique nature of athletes’ experiences compared with their nonathletic counterparts, it appears that more education is needed for coaches and parents of female athletes on the topic of predisposing factors for eating disorder pathology” (Cameselle & Quatromoni). All athletes should have regular checkups with the sports physician at the school or who is on call, along with talking to a sports nutritionist to receive guidance on proper dieting and food choices. Fluids and a well balance diet should be replenished and encouraged before, during, and after a workout. Coaches and school administration should have safe zones for athletes to feel comfortable coming to them if and when they might have an eating disorders. Athletes should never feel uncomfortable to rely on coaching staff, parents, teammates, or anyone when they are in a crisis or in need of professional help. “The main goals for treatment of the female athlete triad are to revert current complications back to previous healthy norms, to establish healthy behaviors related to menstrual function, bone health, and energy availability, and to prevent future complications”