Female Athlete Triad: The Disorder You Might Not Understand But Need to Know
Image courtesy of Jaci Berkopec on Flickr
A family friend of a Moji employee passed away this past week from anorexia at the age of sixty-four – a tragedy that happens far too often in women of all ages.
Female athletes are particularly prone to disordered eating as a result of the pressures of their sport, their peers, and the media. Though sports requiring weigh-ins and aesthetic judging may come to mind, all competitive athletic activities can cause undue pressure in women to restrict their caloric intake. Endurance sports, sports that require revealing uniforms, and sports that benefit from diminutive frames are just a few other categories that yield an unnaturally high number of athletes with eating disorders. Unfortunately, that means that very few, if any, sports are a safe haven for women.
It is important to understand the risk factors and warning signs associated with eating disorders in female athletes and the unfortunate progression of the often serious, and sometimes deadly, conditions known as the Female Athlete Triad.
The Female Athlete Triad is three interrelated medical conditions born from aggressive athletic training in conjunction with disordered eating. These conditions are:
-energy deficiency (disordered eating)
-amenorrhea (menstrual disturbances)
-osteoporosis (bone loss)
