When athletes struggle with food

The pressures of sport can trigger eating disorders

“I saw others in my sport who were thinner than me and I wondered why I didn’t look like them,” said Emma, a student athlete. (Emma is not her actual name but she would like to remain anonymous.) “I decided to go on a healthy diet to lose some weight but it spiraled out of control. I tried everything and it ruined my life.” 

Studies have shown that athletes are three times more likely to develop an eating disorder or engage with disordered eating behaviors than the average population. There are several components that make athletes more prone to eating disorders. Some of these include, emphasis on physical appearance, sports focused on the individual over the team, endurance sports, and athletes with perfectionist tendencies. 

Young athletes in particular are more sensitive to developing an eating disorder and understanding the risks and origins of this disease is key to supporting them and helping them overcome their struggles.  

The pressure put on athletes to succeed combined with an emphasis on body weight and shape can produce a toxic outcome. Athletic competition can contribute to psychological and physical stress and if you add the aspect of aspiring for a “perfect body,” the risk skyrockets for athletes to develop an eating disorder. 

Hannah Weaver, a registered dietitian working at Park Nicollet Melrose center for eating disorders comments on how she has seen eating disorders in athletes in her everyday job. 

“I would say that there are multiple reasons why eating disorders are more prevalent in athletes. One is the pressure that athletes feel to perform at a certain level,” Weaver said. “A lot of times, eating disorders give a sense of control and when you’re engaging in behaviors they give you a sense of control over your performance. But most of the time, these behaviors get taken too far and it starts to actually negatively affect your performance.”

It can be difficult to realize if an athlete is struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating because they mask their unhealthy habits with the misperception that they are just being ‘healthy.’ Their habits, such as dieting, weight loss, and excessive exercise, may be recognized as disordered or they may be praised for their actions. 

“I barely ate anything; I started feeling weaker, more tired, more depressed. People weren’t even worried about me losing weight, they just congratulated me. I felt more loved when I was thinner which reinforced my behaviors even more,” said Emma. 

Coaches and teammates play a crucial role in recognizing signs of eating disorders to help struggling athletes get the help they need. Some common behaviors to look out for are compulsive and obsessive exercise, decline of food intake, cutting out certain foods and obsessive calorie counting. 

The media athletes consume can also influence the development of an eating disorder. Seeing posts about weight and weight loss, diets to try, the perfect model’s body, etc, can all negatively affect your mental health. 

Weaver comments on why athletes are never satisfied with their bodies. 

“We live in a society that’s very weight-biased and in certain sports such as gymnastics, swimming, running, dance, we often don’t see very diverse body sizes,” Weaver said. “And I think it is because there is a perpetuated image or stereotype that you need to have a smaller body to perform well. But trying to lose weight when you’re training and competing will lead to poor performance and other medical side effects.” 

Once you get the help you need, it can change your life in a happier and healthier way. Recovering from an eating disorder is very difficult; it’s a long process but the price of living after being free from your mental illness is worth it. 

“I was hesitant about recovering at first,” said Emma. “And it was definitely hard but it paid off. I just feel happier and better than before. So, yeah, I would for sure say that recovery is worth it.” 

Resources:

Emily Program : https://www.emilyprogram.com/contact-us 

Melrose Center : https://www.healthpartners.com/care/specialty-centers/melrose-center/contact/

Suicide Hotline : 988

National Eating Disorder Hotline : (800) 931-2237