Washington [US], April 30 (ANI): Experts feel that social media may cause eating disorders in female athletes who believe they must acquire the “ideal” figure.
Dr. Kathryn Vidlock and Catherine Liggett, both collegiate athletes, and dietician Andrew Dole warn that nutrition myths spread by fitness influencers, exercise-related ‘fitspiration’ photographs on Instagram, and photoshopping are having a direct impact on athletes.
Spring Forward: Body Image and Balanced Eating in Sports for Female Athletes focuses on the disordered eating that is common in sports today, especially high school.
Spring Forward: Balanced Exercise, Body Image, and Female Athletes’ Book highlights the disordered eating, negative body image, and lack of exercise that are prevalent in sports today, particularly in high schools, but often remain hidden.
Unrealistic goals
The authors say athletes constantly strive to fit into a body-type ideal that isn’t realistic and education is the way to ‘stop this in its tracks’.
“False information is often perpetuated on social media by ‘fitness influencers’ who are not actually qualified to give health information,” say the authors who are based in the U.S. and New Zealand.
“With the creation of Photoshop and other editing devices, the images portrayed by media are not realistic.
“Many teens cannot achieve this body type without using damaging restrictive eating. They feel the pressure to look ideal and subsequently, they feel they are never good enough when they do not duplicate the unrealistic bodies seen in the media.”
Athletes on Social Media
The considerable pressure to main the ‘perfect’ physique has been voiced by top female competitors including tennis champion Serena Williams. Anna Hall, a heptathlete who competes in the Olympics, used TikTok earlier this year to criticize those who say that women athletes look like men.
Spring Forward by CRC Press features the stories of nearly a dozen female sportspeople who struggled with negative body images because they felt pressured to lose weight.
From swimmers to tennis players, the women featured in the book detail harrowing accounts such as running for 5 miles as self-punishment for eating a cookie, fainting in the gym after 24 hours without food, and dieting heavily after criticism about her ‘butt cheeks.’
One volleyball player even lost a friend – the team’s ‘star player’ – to anorexia when the girl suffered a heart attack triggered by the eating disorder.
Dr Kathryn Vidlock’s co-authors point out that the situation is worsened by the fact that many sports have body type ideals.
They say that runners are expected to have very thin legs, but some elite athletes have muscles that look bigger than the stereotype. The consequence is women often face ‘disparaging remarks’.
What can we do?
To counter unrealistic expectations, Spring Forward encourages higher-quality performance in women’s sports achieved through healthy eating and
From secondary school to elite levels of athletes, nutrition is important.
It is aimed at educating teenage and female athletes, coaches and sports clubs about body image.
According to the authors, this will help protect children from unhealthy eating habits and fad dieting such as ketogenic. It also helps prevent other self-destructive behavior in an attempt to meet unrealistic expectations.
The manual is packed with information on how to spot signs of eating disorders, such as not menstruating.
The book also describes an educational program called SPRING for girls (Strength, Positivity and Nutrition Rooted in Strength) that the authors developed.
Women at risk should be identified as early as possible by programs such SPRING, which can be implemented in schools, colleges, and with adults.
SPRING focuses on increasing body image ‘flexibility’, which the authors define as the ability to be confident in one’s body regardless of size or shape. It involves three, one-hour-long sessions spread throughout the athlete’s season.
The authors’ research suggests that SPRING has increased the body image flexibility of cheerleaders by over 22 percent in Colorado schools. (ANI)
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