Eating Disorders and Athletes

This post was authored by several Trine University students as part of a classroom group research project for SM-393 Sport Psychology. The Trine University Center for Sports Studies Blog features these student contributions to showcase their academic work, encourage thought-provoking discussion, and highlight new perspectives within the study of sports.

 

Eating Disorders and Athletes

By Nicholas Alexander, Levi Hilton, Alyssa Jones and Sydney Streb

Eating disordersAthletic stressors are normal for an athlete; however, some stressors can be detrimental to one’s health, causing poor performance, physicality, and mental health. Athletics create a pressure to excel, which can increase anxiety and impact physical capabilities. This brings the issue of eating disorders to attention. Eating disorders are higher in athletes than non-athletes, “found to range from 6-45% in female athletes and 0-19% in male athletes” (Nickols, 2024).

Athletics must be an environment in which these disorders do not manifest, however the incessant standards that athletes are required to abide by do not allow it to be. Practitioners and coaches must see the warning signs of a potential eating disorder, and work to prevent it by providing mental health support.

Review of the Literature

Evidence displays that eating disorders are prevalent in sports, especially in ones that are high in weight sensitivity like endurance sports. Athletes in weight category sports like boxing or wrestling are not allowed to perform unless they meet their weight requirement for their category. Sports, such as gymnastics, come with an aesthetic evaluation that seeks out a particular body composition which is dominantly promoted. Eating disorders are an illness and can cause physical and psychological impairments, and athletes with them are at a higher risk of injury as well as the possibility of a shorter sports career that is paired with inconsistent performance. Eating disorders are associated with severe disturbances in one’s eating behaviors and related emotions. Preoccupation with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder (National Institute for Mental Health, n.d.). Some common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. According to the Mayo Clinic (2023), anorexia is an eating disorder where people avoid food, severely restrict food, or eat very small quantities of certain foods.

Bulimia nervosa is a condition where people have constant, frequent episodes of eating unusually copious amounts of food and feeling lack of control over these episodes. This binge- eating is then often followed by behavior that compensates for the overeating such as forced vomiting, excessive exercise, or a combination of these behaviors. People with bulimia nervosa may be slightly underweight, normal weight, or overweight (Mayo Clinic, 2023).

Binge-eating disorder, like bulimia in some ways, is a condition where individuals eat large amounts of food, excessively exercise, or fast. People with a binge-eating disorder are usually considered overweight or obese. One may binge to cope with negative feelings, or because they are bored (Mayo Clinic, 2023).

Another common eating disorder is Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a condition where people limit the amount of or type of food eaten (Mayo Clinic, 2023). Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder is also considered a pattern of eating that does not meet the minimum daily nutrition needs. This may lead to problems with growth, development, and functioning in daily life.

Athletes who feel pressure to look a certain way, may have parents or coaches around them who comment on their weight or body, saying for example: “she [the athlete] has a runner build,” or “if you gain more weight, you won’t be as fast next year.” These comments put pressure on the athlete to look a certain way, and they may turn to eating disorders to help “solve” their problems. These disorders, on the contrary, create more problems in an athlete's life and are extremely difficult to overcome alone.

A side effect of and a pathway into eating disorders is the act of compulsively exercising. Compulsive exercise is the need to exercise to be able to eat later, or to help get rid of anxiety when recovering from eating disorders. Many compulsive exercisers believe that if they feel like they are not struggling enough, breathing heavy enough, or feel like their workouts are not challenging enough, then they are not getting any sort of benefits out of it. Compulsive exercising is a problem that is closely related to eating disorders. It is a craving for physical training, resulting in uncontrollable excessive exercise with harmful consequences, such as injuries and impaired social relationships (Lichtenstein et al., 2017). There are some studies that show that it can be the starting line for developing an eating disorder. “...evidence for the syndrome as a primary condition has been demonstrated and should be understood as a serious psychological morbidity, because psychosocial functioning is impaired” (Lichtenstein et al., 2017).

 

Implications of Practitioners

A great beginning strategy in eating disorder prevention is to simply educate athletes and their health professionals about risk factors, higher risk groups, and the early identification stages. “Early identification and treatment of disordered eating should become the highest priority for athletic programs” (Coelho et al., 2024). Identifying when abnormal eating habits become noticeable to an athlete or even one noticing it with a teammate can lead to prompt action. Actions that can be taken are aspects like tracking their macros, which are “...compounds required in large amounts that play a critical role in energy provision, synthesis of structural molecules, hormone production, and regulation of metabolic pathways” (Espinosa-Salas & Gonzalez-Arias, 2023). and giving them suitable goals to obtain nutrition day-by-day to get one’s body to adjust to healthy ways. Psychological methods like counseling, therapy sessions, or group discussions are a valuable option and opportunity for those dealing with eating disorders because it is important that they know they are not alone through this struggle (National Eating Disorders Association, n.d.).

 

Conclusion

Eating disorders are harmful to health and careers. The right intervention can help an athlete become the best they can be without detrimental eating habits. It is up to teammates, parents, and coaches to be aware and identify these symptoms. Within the mental aspects of the sports society, athletes must acknowledge these detrimental issues, speak out for help, and impact others. Education programs that work towards healthy eating, and effective training in athletes are incredibly impactful for preventing eating disorders (Coelho et al., 2024).

 

References

Coelho, G. M. de O., Gomes, A. I. da S., Ribeiro, B. G., & Soares, E. de A. (2014, May 12). Prevention of eating disorders in female athletes. Open access journal of sports medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4026548/#:~:text=As%20mentioned%20b

efore,%20an%20excellent%20strategy%20to%20initiate%20eating%20disorder

Currie, A. (2010, June). Sport and eating disorders - understanding and managing the risks. Asian journal of sports medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3289170/#:~:text=An%20athlete%20with

%20a%20possible%20eating%20disorder%20should%20be%20approached

Eating disorders & compulsive exercise in athletes. Eating Recovery Center. (n.d.). https://www.eatingrecoverycenter.com/resources/eating-disorders-compulsive-exercise-

athletes?utm_campaign=ERC_National_Pmax&gbraid=0AAAAAD5QKtjE8owBZflQ7x4L68GmAD7Xs

Espinosa-Salas, S., & Gonzalez-Arias, M. (2023, August 8). Nutrition: Macronutrient Intake, Imbalances, and Interventions. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594226/

Lichtenstein, M. B., Hinze, C. J., Emborg, B., Thomsen, F., & Hemmingsen, S. D. (2017, March 30). Compulsive exercise: Links, risks and challenges faced. Psychology research and behavior management. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5386595/

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2023, March 28). Eating disorders. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eating-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20353603

Nickols, R. (2024, March 8). Eating disorders and athletes. National Eating Disorders Association. https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/eating-disorders-and-athletes-2/

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Eating disorders. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/eating-disorders