The Hidden Dangers of Eating Disorders in Athletics
Written by Ashley Bastron
This blog aims to raise awareness about how eating disorders can negatively affect athletes' health and performance as well as how to find treatment for eating disorders near you. This message needs to be shared because many athletes and coaches are unaware of the warning signs and health risks of eating disorders and disordered eating. For example, it’s not common knowledge that anorexia nervosa has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric disorder (Wooldridge, 2016). Therefore, increasing awareness and knowledge is necessary to help keep athletes safe.
At a glance
This article will cover:
Why athletes are at a higher risk for eating disorders
Some medical consequences of eating disorders for athletes
The importance of a treatment team approach and how to find treatment for an eating disorder near you
Research has identified athletes, especially those participating in lean sports such as running, gymnastics, or dance, as an at-risk population for the development of eating disorders (ED) and disordered eating (DE). While there are several reasons athletes are at an increased risk of ED/DE, the pressure to conform to an ideal body shape or to lose weight for their sport is a major influence. Other factors are the perfectionistic, goal-oriented, and competitive psychological make-up of elite athletes (Byrne & McLean, 2001). While these characteristics are commonly praised by coaches and may allow athletes to achieve short-term success in athletic performance, they also place athletes at risk of damaging vital systems necessary for their health and survival. Combining that with the typical age of onset for most eating disorders as adolescence or early adulthood, one begins to see how much an athlete’s environment can impact their risk of ED/DE. This is especially true for adolescent female athletes who are navigating the onset of puberty and adapting to normal and necessary changes in their bodies (Byrne & McLean, 2001).
Societal pressure to be lean and fit may drive athletes towards compulsive exercise routines that increase their risk of relapse, injury, and burn out. Dittmer et al. (2018) defines compulsive exercise as an inappropriately high exercise pattern, shown by repetitive exercise that an athlete feels driven to perform according to strict personal rules and exercise that is aimed at managing distress or at preventing some feared consequence. Compulsive exercise is concerning from a weight maintenance standpoint, but it also increases the risk of medical complications such as bradycardia, hypotension, amenorrhea, and most commonly, low bone mineral density that are common byproducts of anorexia nervosa (Kolnes & Rodriguez-Morales, 2016). Therefore, it’s important for athletes and coaches to be aware of the warning signs of compulsive exercise so it’s not mistakenly praised as “dedication” which only reinforces these harmful behaviors.
While eating disorders can impact anyone, research shows it is currently more prevalent in women than men. For athletes, females are subjected to both societal pressures to be thin and sport-specific pressure to be lean to maximize their performance. Male athletes, on the other hand, may not face as much sociocultural pressure to be thin, but they are subjected to societal pressures to be muscular and strong and to conform to an ideal body shape for reasons of athletic performance (Byrne & McLean, 2001). This is one of the reasons why the prevalence of ED is higher in athletes than in controls. Sundgot-Borgen and Torstveit (2004) also found higher rates of eating disorders among those competing in leanness-dependent and weight-dependent sports than in other sports. So, it’s easy to see how the combination of societal and performance related pressures can create an unhealthy environment that encourages athletes to try and conform to body shapes or sizes that are not healthy or possible for them to achieve.
The treatment of eating disorders is multifaceted, which is why having a treatment team is so helpful for recovery. Finding a counselor who is familiar with cognitive behavioral therapy, internal family systems, rogerian style psychotherapy, dialectical behavioral therapy skills, and mindfulness is a great place to start. But it’s also advantageous, and typically necessary to combine talk therapy with nutritional counseling and regular check ins with a physician who specializes in disordered eating. Sundgot-Borgen and Torstveit (2004) found a collaborative effort amongst a treatment team was optimal for recognizing, preventing, and treating EDs in athletes.
As a counselor-in-training at Nourished and Known Counseling, I’m fortunate to work alongside an exceptional team of counselors who specialize in the treatment of eating disorders and trauma. We also consult with dieticians and physicians in the Winston-Salem community who specialize in the treatment of eating disorders and disordered eating. We would be happy to schedule an appointment with you, answer any questions you have, or help you find the right treatment team to meet your needs.
You can contact my site supervisor at taylor@nourishedandknowncounseling.com or myself at ashley@nourishedandknowncounseling.com.