"The intangible is often more real than the tangible to a person who is mentally ill."
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While an athlete may not be able to reverse bone loss she has already suffered, she can prevent further injury by changing her diet and exercise habits. She may also need hormone replacement therapy to ensure that enough estrogen is in her system for normal calcium absorption to take place.
The female athlete triad also takes a psychological toll. In addition to the guilt and frustration of serious eating disorders, mixed messages about weight expectations can be confusing and nerve-wracking. According to ESPN, “One veteran of [a Division I cross-country] program said that she had been hospitalized with anorexia after her weight dropped below 90 pounds. Her mother brought her mail to the hospital, and among it was a form letter from her coach, asking her to drop an additional five pounds before the season started, to maximize the team’s chance for success.”
Pressure from coaches can push college athletes to ignore serious threats to their health. Some coaches are concerned with athletes’ health only to the extent that it affects their ability to compete; others think that for talented female athletes, a shot at victory is worth some short-term health problems. Many coaches do not understand the seriousness of the female athlete triad, thinking instead that athletes will fully recover during the off-season or, at least, after college.
Coaches will always struggle to balance top performance against the other interests of their athletes. But they must also recognize that they are looked to as role models by college athletes living away from home for the first time, and that they can use the influence of that relationship to foster healthy lifestyle habits. If more coaches were educated about the potentially permanent damage that can result from the female athlete triad, they might be more likely to treat unhealthy eating habits and over-training as higher priorities. With the help of college coaches, fewer female athletes might end up running on empty.
Sources
Beals, Katherine and Manore, Melinda. Disorders of the Female Athlete Triad Among Collegiate Athletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2002.
Lear, Chris. Running with the Buffaloes. The Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut, 2003.
Otis, Carol and Goldingay, Roger. The Athletic Woman’s Survival Guide. Human Kinetics, IL, 2000.
Melissa Donais is a junior in Ezra Stiles College