Female Athletes. Excessive exercise is associated with many cases of anorexia (and, to a lesser degree, bulimia). In young female athletes, exercise and low body weight postpone puberty, allowing them to retain a muscular boyish shape without the normal accumulation of fatty tissues in breasts and hips that may blunt their competitive edge. Coaches and teachers may compound the problem by overemphasizing calorie counting and loss of body fat.
In response, people who are vulnerable to such criticism may feel compelled to strictly diet and lose weight. The term "female athlete triad" is a common and serious disorder that affects young female athletes and dancers. It includes:
- Eating disorders, including anorexia
- Amenorrhea (absent or irregular menstruation)
- Osteoporosis (bone calcium loss, which is related to low weight)
Male Athletes. Male wrestlers and lightweight rowers are also at risk for excessive dieting. Many high school wrestlers use a method called weight-cutting for rapid weight loss. This process involves food restriction and fluid depletion by using steam rooms, saunas, laxatives, and diuretics. Although male athletes are more apt to resume normal eating patterns once competition ends, studies show that the body fat levels of many wrestlers are still well below their peers during off-season and are often as low as 3% during wrestling season.
Diabetes or Other Chronic Diseases
Eating disorders may be more common in teenagers with chronic illness, such as diabetes or asthma. They are particularly serious problems for people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes
- Binge eating (without purging) is more common in type 2 diabetes and, in fact, the obesity it causes may even trigger this diabetes in some people.
- Both bulimia and anorexia are common among young people with type 1 diabetes. The combination of diabetes and an eating disorder can have serious health consequences. Some women with diabetes omit or underuse insulin in order to control weight. If such patients develop anorexia, their extremely low weight may appear to control the diabetes for a while. Eventually, however, if they fail to take insulin and continue to lose weight, these patients develop life-threatening complications.
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Click the icon to see an image of type 1 diabetes. |
Early Puberty
There appears to be a greater risk for eating disorders and other emotional problems for girls who undergo early menarche and puberty, when the pressures experienced by all adolescents are intensified by experiencing these early physical changes, including normal increased body fat.
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Review Date: 02/18/2011
Reviewed By: David B. Merrill, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry,
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New
York, NY. Also reviewed by Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief,
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician,
Massachusetts General Hospital; and David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical
Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
