"The pursuit of athletic perfection, in combination with a relentless drive for thinness, may open the door to the development of an eating disorder—anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. These illnesses involve thoughts, emotions and behaviors and—unless treated—can result in serious problems such as abnormal heart rhythms, infertility or bone loss." Women In Sports Foundation - Warning Signs of Anorexia Nervousa and Bulimia
The article discussed how athletic determination can easily slip into dangerous health issues regarding weight and how important it is to catch the signs early. In recovery female athletes need to have the support of their coach, team mates, family and friends to help with motivation to get well.
I had a hard time trying to understand how someone could allow themselves to fall into the Female Athlete triad. However; as a female trying to match up with societies standards for women I can relate a little. Female athletes are often stuck with the tasks of looking strong, being beautiful and making their sport look like its so easy.When athletic ability is also linked with thinness, and With such pressure its not impossible to see how female athletes can fall into the female athlete Triad. Eating disorders are often linked to emotional distress to meet or beat athletic standers for their sport.
I myself have often caught myself looking in the mirror and seeing something "not quite there yet". At times I have to stop myself and say I'm exercising for my long term health.
Romaina M. Kin 338i section 5756
4 comments:
It is very disturbing to know that many women athletes feel the need to starve or over work their bodies to feel accepted by society. What is even more unfortunate is that this problem for women is starting at a younger age than ever before. These young girls are obsessing over their body image which causes these girls to over exercise and skimp out on meals, however in their defense they are not educated enough to know the severe consequences of could happen to their bodies. Many of these young girls just see the amazing benefits, which is losing weight and having a tone body, not the internal problems their bodies are facing such as: a loss of bone density, abnormal hearth rhythms, and irregular to nonexistent menstrual cycles. In all honesty as a young girl who battled with body images issues I knew that over exercising and not eating enough could cause someone to be malnutrition or have irregular periods, which I saw as a positive, but never did I think it could cause such severe, long term problems. And I think that is a major problem with these young athletic women, is that they do not know the severity it can cause to their bodies.
Trisha Tabag, Kin 338I T/Th 2-315
I agree with your post. I too have a hard time seeing how female athletes allow themselves to fall into the female athlete triad. With the amount that we know about health and our bodies, it astounds me to see the number of female athletes who suffer from some form of eating disease or has fallen into the female athlete triad. As a society we need to continue to educate our female athletes and really instill in their minds that there are dangerous and risky consequences to these types of actions. It does seem true that it is not the female athletes entire fault for allowing themselves to slip to this level, it is the way they are seen in our society, female athletes have to live with many stereotypes that may not even be true, but to feel accepted they female athletes will go to dangerous lows to achieve a better body image.
Ryan Dunham, Kin. 338 T/TH 2-3:15
From first hand experience, it is very easy for me to see how a female athlete can slip into the female athlete triad with an eating disorder. Growing up as a serious ballet dancer, from the age as early as 13, teachers would poke and prod at areas of our bodies that needed to be sucked in and tightened. I even had a teacher once that would yell "I see jiggles!" out to our entire class. In sports like dance, such as gymnastics and cheerleading, athletes not only want to look aesthetically pleasing, but also be light on their feet and be able to move easily. I've seen many of my friends develop eating disorders because of this. I feel that in a lot of cases, these eating disorders are really not the athletes fault, especially if they have been told that from such a young age that they need to have absolutely no fat on their bodies. At such a young age, where some girls are not even having their menstrual cycles yet, I don't see how they can be at blame for not being educated on problems associated with eating disorders. I feel that it is really important for parents and coaches to take it into their own hands to educate these athlete's on these issues. Maybe if my ballet studio had a required nutrition class that we had to take, some of the girls that developed eating disorders wouldn't have. Athlete's in these high risk sports need to be informed that the skinnier you are, does not necessarily mean that you are healthier.
-Jenna Van Orden, Kin 338I T/TH 2-3:15
The female athletic triad goes much deeper than just a want to be thin. Overtime, being thin and “perfect” becomes a way of thinking, which is very hard to change. As was shown in the film Beauty Mark, even people with the tools to be healthy (athletic trainers) fall into the Female Athletic Triad. Even though these women are in shape, they see themselves, and parts of their bodies, as being imperfect. As Jenna stated above, it is not the athletes fault alone. Although we can teach athletes about nutrition and safe exercise, deeper psychological issues could outweigh what is taught. If negative body image is forced upon young athletes, especially in aesthetic sports, it will continue to be present in their adolescent and adult lives.
The need to be physically fit and in shape for various sports is important, but only to a certain extent. Coaches need to encourage athletes to be healthy to achieve their goals, not necessarily thinner. If weight loss is needed, perhaps nutrition talks would be a more appropriate way to approach the situation. If children are taught that they are imperfect and not good enough, they will carry those negativities into their adult lives. Once negative body image is in your mind, it is very hard to overcome harmful eating and exercise habits.
Michelle Dietz
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