Madison Callaway Senior Project 16 February 2014 While attending a sports camp for swimmers one summer, an instructor

addressed the problem of sports anorexia. Like many in the audience, I thought it was preposterous that a swimmer could have an eating disorder. We have all heard the infamous accounts of Michael Phelps daily caloric intake and I have witnessed firsthand many carbohydrate loading team dinners the night before a big meet. After the shock wore off our faces, the instructor explained that sports anorexia is an eating disorder in which athletes burn more calories than they consume. The typical patient may not exhibit the symptoms one would expect of someone with an eating disorder and many may even be consuming 2-3 times that of an average person. Out of all that I learned at swim camp that year, this has had the most profound impact on me. The culture that we live in exerts a pressure on athletes to be lean and fit. While societys ideals of body image have influence on all, there is particular pressure on athletes which can come from parents, coaches, teammates, and especially self. Too often, those afflicted are unaware they have a problem. Many even think they are achieving a new level of personal fitness. The fitness craze that has swept our nation has convinced multiple generations that it is not enough to simply exercise and be fit. We must work out continuously and eradicate all unhealthy practices from our lives. Due to the prevalence of extreme fitness, those who question the health and safety of athletes are often hesitant to voice their opinions for fear of being seen as outdated. When trying to determine a topic for my schools senior project, I kept hearing the voice of a former science teacher in my head saying Research a problem that keeps you up at night.

Weeks of introspective contemplation made me realize that I wanted to focus my project on a problem that plagues a community that I am a part of, such as swimmers. In the years since my experience at swim camp, I have constantly reminded myself to count calories for the opposite reason that most people do. In those same years I have witnessed many athletes who are more concerned by the stigma of overeating than they are with consuming enough calories. I became curious as to how many of my fellow swimmers are struggling with sports anorexia and the effects this could have long range on their athletic performance and their health. A study by Torstveit, Rosenvinge, and Sundgot-Borgen in 2008 found that clinical eating disorders continue to be significant problems for more than 46% of elite females in lean sports and almost 20% in nonlean sports. Because sports participates face the same general risk factors as the general population, as well as risks unique to the sport environment, we contend that they are more at risk (Thompson, Sherman). Lean sports would include sports in which there is a weight class or sports that would give a competitive advantage to a lean body shape. This could include a technical advantage or an aesthetic advantage due to appearance. Nonlean sports would include sports that do not give an advantage for small or lean body types such as power sports (Thompson, Sherman). Swimming is considered a lean sport for most events, though the 50 meter freestyle would be a power event. Because swimming exacts such a toll on the body with multiple workouts per day, swimmers require a much higher caloric consumption than the general population, which makes their risk factor for eating disorders high. Anorexia is considered to be control that is out of control (Thompson, Sherman). It presents itself with a variety of health problems individual to each case, but including cardiovascular problems, electrolyte abnormalities, cardiac complications, orthostatic hypotension, gastric motility, amenorrhea, bone demineralization, hypercholesterolemia,

decreased concentration, depressed mood, insomnia, hyperactivity, and substance abuse (Thompson, Sherman). Compared with normal anorexics, sports anorexics do not experience as severe a weight loss or distorted body image. The typical picture of a waif-like girl who nevertheless sees herself as fat in the mirror does not apply. Physical activity combined with restricted eating and the fact that boys and girls involved in sport are extremely focused on performance and results are the main factors that make them susceptible to sports anorexia (British Orienteering). Those with sports anorexia often dont know they are affected. The driving force behind their anorexia is not body image but fitness perfection. Most are consuming more calories than that of an average person but are failing to recognize their increased caloric needs or are focused on super nutrition. In January 2014, I conducted a study on a group of fellow swimmers to determine what percentages were consuming enough calories to offset what they burned in the pool each day. I asked thirty participants to keep track of their calorie consumption and hours exercised over the course of one week. Although it seemed like most were eating large quantities of food, when analyzing the data, I found that only forty percent of participants were actually consuming enough calories. The other sixty percent of participants were consuming less than eighty percent of their necessary caloric intake. There were no participants consuming less than sixty percent of their daily caloric requirements. My small study verified that sports anorexia is definitely a problem within the swimming community I sampled. Sports anorexia, though not a well-known disorder, is a problem among athletes in multiple sports. Athletes in lean sports where there is an advantage in being slender are extremely prone to developing this eating disorder. Much more research on this disease, especially sport specific, should be performed in order to better understand how prevalent it is. In

addition, awareness of this disease needs to be increased. Most participants in my study had never heard of sports anorexia and were unaware that they were not meeting their daily caloric needs. With the knowledge I have gained, I plan to raise awareness within Utah Swimming by creating a brochure defining sports anorexia, its causes, symptoms, and prevention. By distributing this to all club teams within the state, I can inform coaches, parents, and swimmers, beginning at a young age and while swimmers are still developing in the sport. A shift in habits while young or new in the sport will help to prevent swimmers from developing eating disorders.

Works Cited "Eating Disorders and Sports Anorexia." British Orienteering -. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. "Swimming Day Sixteen - 14th FINA World Championships(Rebecca Soni)." Zimbio. N.p., 31 July 2011. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. Thompson, Ron A., and Roberta Trattner Sherman. Eating Disorders in Sport. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print. "Www.smh.com.au." Aussie Female Swimmers Triumph. N.p., 17 Mar. 2006. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.