Eating Disorders in Gymnasts Essay

With that being said, certain sports put more emphasize on a player’s weight and performance than others. For instance, gymnastics, dancers, wrestlers, divers and long distance runners feature more strain than sports such as basketball, skiing or volleyball. Gymnasts and dancers are highly at risk for developing eating disorders for multiple reasons. The main reason is that their success relies

Numerous studies have shown that athletes are more prone to developing eating disorders than nonathletes, as well as female athletes being more at risk than their male counterparts. Disordered eating is seen in athletes of all sports. (Johnson, 1994). The prevalence of eating disorders in the female athletic population ranges from anywhere between one and forty percent, depending on the athletes questioned, and the methodology used (Sundgot-Borgen, 1994). Rosen and Hough (1988) found that 32 percent of athletes practiced at least one pathogenic weight-control technique(141). A study done by Sundgot-Borgen, in 1994, controlled for the possibility that self-report data could be unreliable in numerous ways, including not informing coaches of their intentions, and assuring 100 percent confidentiality to the athletes who participated. It found that the risk for eating disorders is increased if an athlete's dieting is unsupervised, if there is an early start to sport-specific training, and/or extreme exercise (Sundgot-Borgen, 418).

In today's society, there is much attention being given to the subject of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia; unfortunately it is because these disorders seem to be becoming more and more common. The question that remains is whether eating disorders such as these are simply personal problems of the individuals, or if they have become a social problem that needs to be addressed more aggressively. Having grown up in this society, I see this issue as a definite social problem. To say that these increasingly common eating disorders are personal problems, implies that the causes of them are personal as well, which I believe is not the case. A social problem is something that goes against society's goals and values; it would seem

After reviewing the “Dying to be Thin” (2000) video and the two studies on anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) my view of these two disorders has been expanded and somewhat altered. The “Dying to Be Thin” video looked at the history, triggers, medical complications and treatments. It documents the struggles of models, dancers and teenagers with the disease. The two studies on AN and BN asked patients in a therapeutic setting to write letters to their disorders from the friend and foe perspective. The results were interesting and merit further studies.

Eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia) are not rare in today’s society. They have become increasingly common among young women. Research indicates that there is a link between the media’s representation of “the perfect body” as well as ideals of attractiveness with dissatisfaction of body image and eating disorders (Ferguson, Munoz, Garza, & Galindo, 2013). In this current literature review, I will focus on the impact of eating disorders among female collegiate student-athletes with an emphasis on how sports can play an influential role in the development of eating disorders. Female collegiate student-athletes are at risk of developing eating disorders not only because of societal pressures on women to be thin, but also due to sport-specific pressures to change their body weight, size or shape. Factors that contribute to sport culture and pressure on female athletes include performance anxiety, revealing uniforms, and coaches’ influences on their athletes (Coker-Cranney & Reel, 2015).

Over the past twenty years, there has been a great increase of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa which have come out as major psychological and health problems. This increase in eating disorders has resulted from the intense societal pressure to diet and conform to an unrealistic weight and body size. For the general population of women, the lifetime number of anorexia nervosa is approximately 0.7%, and that of bulimia nervosa is as high as 10.3% ( Taub & Blinde, 1992). Since many athletes contain almost the same behaviors to those with eating disorders, there has also been an increase in interest in whether athletes are at a risk for eating disorders.

Bulimia is categorized as “frequent episodes of binge eating, followed by frantic efforts to avoid gaining weight.” (Barston). People will throw up, use laxatives, and/or excessively work out to avoid gaining weight. Many people who diet fall under what is called the binge and purge cycle. It starts off with strict dieting, which leads to tension and cravings.

As demonstrated by such famous gymnasts as Kathy Johnson and Nadia Comaneci who have struggled with eating disorders themselves, women's gymnastics seems "designed for the disease" ("Dying for a medal" 1994). In the 1992 NCAA survey, 51% of the gymnastics programs that responded reported this illness among its team members, "a far greater percentage than in any other sport" ("Dying to win" 1994). Unfortunately, the real number is probably even higher.

Following next for an eating disorder is binge-eating disorder or BED. This disorder is different from the first two, since the person is obese and more over weight. A person with BED, eats a lot of food and instead of purging it just sits there and piles up in their body over time. The risks of this disorder are that the person can develop over time cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. The guilt trip and denial makes it more easy for that person to binge eat more classifying it as an eating

Aesthetic sports such as gymnastics and dance demand a high amount of exercise and performance ability. For many female gymnasts, a lower body weight is associated with their success rate, however, a lower body weight often will cause eating disorders period. Prolong eating disorders can result in osteoporosis. A reported 28 percent of elite gymnasts have an eating disorder. The purpose of this study is to view how susceptible female gymnasts are to eating disorders.

One essential part of competitive sport is nutrition and exercise. These factors are important because they can considerably affect an athlete’s performance. In the Perfect Body, Andie, an aspiring Olympic gymnast, engages in a strict diet to fit her sporting norm. Her coach pushes her to lose weight, and she feels pressured to maintain a small build. In order to reach the professional level, Andie uses extreme measures such as self-induced vomiting, fasting, and excessive exercise to control her weight. While these methods may seem to improve performance initially, they may be signs of an eating disorder. Compulsive exercise may also lead to burnout and overuse injuries. Ultimately, food restrictions and overtraining can damage an athlete’s health and performance.

Disordered eating among athletes, particularly female athletes, has been the subject of much research. In one study, women with disordered eating were 3.6 times as likely to have an eating disorder if they were athletes. In addition, female collegiate athletes who compete in heavily body conscious sports like gymnastics, swimming, or diving are shown to be more at risk for developing an eating disorder. This is a result of the engagement in sports where weekly repeated weigh-ins are standard, and usually required by

I would alert the athletes, the coach, and the athletes’ parents with different approach. First, I would approach to the athletes very carefully. Some of the athletes may deny that they are having an eating disorder problem. Besides, I understand that the athlete who are suffering eating disorders could very isolating from others and struggling with their self-esteem with emotions. In this case, I would make some rapport with the athletes for trying to make them to feel comfortable to talk to me as a first step of helping them. This process may take times. However, it is the best way to develop trust be being supportive and honest. Once they can talk to me with their problems, I will try to identify which type of eating disorders they are having.

In modern culture, women and men are becoming less satisfied with their body shape. According to a report that was done by the Federal Trade Commission, seventy percent of Americans are either trying not to maintain their weight or are trying to lose weight (Kittleson 75). To compensate for being over weight, an individual will develop an eating disorder. According to Mark Kittleson, eating disorders are when an individual eats way too much or way too little (1). There are three different types of eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. According to Jessica Bennett, twenty-five million people in the United States suffer from binge eating disorder and ten million women and one million men suffer from either anorexia or

Appearance-oriented professions or activities: People who face tremendous image pressure are vulnerable to developing bulimia. Those at risk include dancers, models, gymnasts, runners, actors and any other profession that weight and body image is under scrutiny