Eating Disorders in Athletes Zine

Amy croft
SCALE
FOR
‘SUCCESS’
Disordered eating in
athlete’s

What is meant by
Disordered
Eating?
DEFINITION
‘Disturbed
eating behaviours
with a focus on
food,calories
and weight’

Three most
common
behaviours are…
SKIPPING
MEALS
RESTRICTIVE
DIETS
COMPULSIVE
EATING

Why are
athletes at
risk?
All For the pursuit
of sporting success

The commitments to be an athlete
often leads athletes to be
vulnerable due to their unique
relationship with performance,
nutritional intake and training
schedules causing them to make
personal sacrifices following a
“win at all costs mentality”
Following strict diet
requirements and training
regimes for their specific
sport and physique can be
one of those ‘sacrifices’
which may cause food
restriction and changes in
attitudes towards foods
They also face social scrutiny
within the public eye where their
bodies are often
objectified, valued and treated
by how they look

Disordered
eating AFFECTS
19%
45%
MEN
WOMEN
Of athletes
POTENTIALLY HIGHER DUE TO
UNDERREPORTING AND going
undetected

Can often be
hard to
distinguish
disordered
eating in
athletes due
to the nature
of the sport
But…
Often controlling food
consumption with eating only
‘healthy’ foods, training for
long periods of time even
outside of practice and
pushing their bodies to the
extreme is congratulated and
thought of as ‘’normal’ for
athletes

potential to lead to
Clinical eating
disorders
Anorexia
Definition:
The ‘need’ to keep weight
as low as possible
Estimated risk in athletes
Females
34.7%
9.5%
Signs
• Fixation on
weight
• Counting
calories
• Fear of gaining
weight
• Skipping meals
• Food rules
Males

•
•
•
Signs
Bathroom
straight after
eating
Eating in secret
Distorted body
image
Shame or guilt
around eating
Scarring on the
knuckles
•
•
Bulimia
Definition:
purging food after
consumption
Estimated risk in athletes
38%
For both Male and female
Binge eating
Definition:
Eating large
quantities
without feeling in
control often in a
short period of
time
Signs
• Weight
fluctuations
• Eating in
secret
• Consuming at
a fast pace
Hiding food
• lethargy

It’s time to talk about it
The taboo of
disordered eating
in athletes
It can often be difficult to understand
disordered eating in athletes ACROSS THE
general population due to the nature of
some athletes’ sports and our views of
an ideal body
An athletes’ body is often athletic, lean
and muscular so few would suspect one
to struggle with an eating disorder
Often we are aware athletes follow a
strict diet and training programme but to
US that is ‘normal’ if an athlete wants to
succeed
and what may be deemed as ‘unhealthy’ or
‘abnormal’ is ignored when it comes to
athletes

Athletes themselves often
under report symptoms or
even see their behaviours
as ’normal’ as a
commitment to their
training
Many are scared to speak
up to damage relationships
with peers, fellow
athletes and coaches that
may end their careers they
worked so hard for
There is also a stigma around
male athletes who are often
overlooked as disordered eating
is often viewed as a female issue
causing male athletes to go
unnoticed and many males not
speaking up

It’s time to talk about it
The current
headlines
‘COACHES BANNED
FROM WEIGHING
GYMNASTS’
the Guardian 2023
New rule issued by British
gymnastics
A first step in the battle of
eating disorders for athletes

Finally understanding
the
‘influence of the scales’
Causing starvation and
body shaming across
young gymnasts
A first and positive step
which needs to influence
other athletic
associations to protect
our athletes

Yulia Lipnitskaia’s
story
In august 2017, 19 year-old
Russian Gold medallist retired
from figure skating due to her
battle with anorexia which she
exclaimed
“ my only regret is that I didn’t
do this before”
KNOWN AS
”A TINY
genius”
“a little
legend”
and “the
future of
figure
skating

social media outburst suspected
she retired from falling pregnant
because she had ‘gained weight’
BUT
Yulia SNAPPED BACK
“HAVE A Conscience. I CAN’T BE 37
KILOGRAMS ALL MY LIFE JUST TO MAKE
EVERYBODY HAPPY. I HAVE BEEN
DIETING ENOUGH ALREADY : IT’S
ENOUGH!”
Yulia checked herself into a
clinic as the ongoing battle with
anorexia from the pressure and
expectations leading her to put
her health first as she had
“lost her freedom” and felt
“constant stress”
Yulia sends a powerful message to others
that no amount of success is worth
sacrificing your health and body for

Higher risk
athletes
Aesthetic
sports
Gymnastics
Swimming
Emphasise
appearance and
encourage leanness
Figure skating
dance
Weight-class
Weightlifting
wresting
boxing
sports
Require athletes to
fall below a certain
weight or within a
range to be classed

Why are these athletes at
high risk of disordered
eating?
There is an increased emphasis on
appearance and thinness which is taken
into consideration when judges score
these athletes, leading to athletes’
bodies being objectified
often competition clothing and
training kits are tight fitting and
minimal
They face both social pressure and
pressure from the sporting
environment they are in, normalising
comparison between athletes based on
appearance over performance
‘weight cutting’ is deemed as normal in
order to make weight categories which
can lead to unhealthy weight loss
techniques and change in eating
behaviours

Long term
effects
Athletes with long term disordered
eating behaviours can be
detrimental to their success as as
athlete but
more
importantly
to their
mental
wellbeing
and
physical
health
if the
athlete is
not treated
and
supported

The
consequences
• Bone and muscle loss
• Damage to vital organs
• Increased risk of injury
• Depression and anxiety
• Lower performance during
training and competition
• Loss of menstrual cycle and
infertility
• Increased cardiovascular
risk
• Tooth decay and gum disease
• Changes to metabolism
• Risk of substance abuse
• Death

The impact
of social
media
Within society today social
media platforms allow
anyone to post and comment
on athletes globally

Headlines and tweets
against world class
athletes
Flintoff throws
weight around
“ fat slogger`’
Freddie Flintoff
England cricketer
“built like
a man”
serena Williams
Tennis player
‘Robel the whale’
“unathletic paunch”
“He was really tum ting”
“Who’s the flabby”
“Generously rounded”
Robel kiros habte
swimmer
“Y’all find
this
attractive?
IMMAAOO”
“Box
shaped”
Simone biles
Olympic gymnast
Imagine seeing these written about
you? How can we stop this being
allowed?

Athlete quotes
”I reckon there’s not 20
minutes that go past
without me thinking
about my weight”
after ruthless
comments from peers
and the media about his
weight leading him to
bulimia as his “coping
mechanism”
FREDDIE
FLINTOFF
England
cricketer
BATTLED WITH
BULIMIA in
secret FOR 20
YEARS
Cassie
patten
Olympic medallist
swimmer left
broken after
years of negative
comments and
following her
coaches’
instructions to
lose weight
“ I’d make myself sick not
drink anything the night
before I’d be going to the
toilet several times before
my weigh ins anything to
get the lowest possible
number on the scale”
Left broken after years of
obsession over her weight
leading her to quit the sport
at just 24

Watch these
documentaries
‘why don’t you lose
Stories across different athletes from
Olympic to high school athletes and coaches,
showing the battle of eating disorders
More information visit- or scan
https://www.whydontyoulose5pounds.com/aboutt
hefilm
5Lbs?’
‘Freddie Flintoff: living
with bulimia” BBC
England Cricketer Freddie Flintoff 20-year
journey with a secret eating disorder
More information visit- or scan
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00
0n1xx/freddie-flintoff-living-with-bulimia
‘winning at all costs’
Breaking the silence on athletes and eating
disorders with athletes' stories
More information visit- or scan
https://www.pbs.org/video/winning-at-allcosts-full-film-wkwnwj/

Coaches
impact
Think about this…
Coaches play a key role in the
development of athlete’s
performance success as well as
wellbeing and health through
strong relationships where their
opinions are valued and trusted
YET many athletes feel their coaches
encouraged disordered eating behaviours…
They have the responsibility to be
aware of eating disorders,
symptoms and behaviours

Change
Many coaches have no knowledge
on disordered eating behaviours
so educating coaches needs to
happen
Which still is yet to be put into
place across many federations’,
clubs and governing bodies!

What needs to
change
New welfare rules to
ban excessive weighing
of all athletes
Coaches need to be
educated on eating
disorders to
acknowledge the signs
to support and direct
athletes to the correct
care

Get talking to
break the taboo
of eating disorders
Athletes also needs
education and
implementing
disordered eating talks
within training
Headlines and social
media posts attacking
body image in athletes
needs to be
banded and monitored

How we can
help
Think before
you comment, tweet,
write or post
Would you be happy
reading or hearing
that about you?
Remember athletes are
human beings too

Sign petitions to get talking
about eating disorders
Make eating
disorder education
compulsory in
schools to support
young athletes
Eating disorders are
not just about
weight ‘dump the
scales’
Expand mental
health services for
athletes and
education programs
for coaches
Or visit
https://www.change.org

SUPPORT OUR
ATHLETES
IF YOU ARE AN ATHLETE
OR KNOW ONE
TRAIN
BRAVE

TRAINBRAVE IS A CAMPAIGN
WITH THE AIM TO
INSPIRE ATHLETES TO SHARE
THEIR STORIES AND RAISE
AWARENESS OF EATING DISORDERS
PROVIDE MORE RESOURCES TO
ATHLETES AND ENCOURAGE A
SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT
ENPOWER COACHES AND CLUBS TO
OFFER MORE SUPPORT TO
ATHLETES
LEARN MORE Via THEIR WEBSITE
https://trainbrave.org
OR SCAN

IF YOU NEED
HELP OR
SUPPORT
Beat- EATING DISORDERS CHARITY
https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/getinformation-and-support/get-help-for-myself/ineed-support-now/helplines/
SCAN ME
Or call
0808 801 0677 (ADULT HELPLINE)
0808 801 0711 (YOUTH HELPLINE)
Or CONTACT YOUR GP AS
SOON AS YOU CAN