BY KAYLA LOKEINSKY
Stepping onto the cold metal platform, his body trembles; half out of anxiety, and half out of sheer hunger. Dozens of thoughts rush through the young wrestlers mind. Did I constrict my liquids enough? How much weight did I lose? Then, these thoughts disappear just as quickly as the needle on the scale rises, and Matt’s fate is in the hands of the numbers.
For an athlete, maintaining their weight is crucial. They are held to a certain standard of physical fitness, and if they don’t meet these standards, then they have no hope of achieving their full athletic potential. Thus, some athletes go to extreme measures to make sure that their bodies are the way they need to be. Wrestlers, for example, need to sustain their weight in order to compete in their desired weight class.
“For wrestling, we have to run a lot everyday,” junior Matt Mitrani said. “We can’t eat a big dinner or any big meals when we’re trying to make weight. Also, we have to restrict our liquids so we don’t gain any water weight.”
For most wrestlers like Mittrani, this is a normal sacrifice during the season, which they survive with no ill effects, however for a growing number of athletes, what they eat or don’t eat to maintain their optimum playing shape is having a long term consequence.
Eating disorders are becoming more common among elite athletes. According to a Norwegian study for the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, elite athletes demonstrate much higher rates of eating disorders compared to the rest of the population. It found that 20% of elite female athletes met the criteria for having an eating disorder, as well as 8% of male elite athletes. Female athletes competing in aesthetic sports like gymnastics and dance were found to be at the highest risk for eating disorders, and athletes competing in weight-class and endurance sports were also at elevated risk.
In contrast to what many people think, eating disorders are not something that a person brings upon himself or herself. It is a disease of the mind that is proven to be a psychological disorder. Athletes feel the pressure from the sporting industry to fit into a certain category of physicality as well as the pressure to be as fit as possible in order to compete in their sport. But also, keeping a low weight can be crucial to their sport.
“For wrestling, it’s easier for the entire team to maintain a low weight,” Mitrani said. “That way if there’s an opening in another weight class it’s easier for someone to take that spot. The lower weight you are, the easier it is to be a wrestler and help out your team.”
The types of eating disorders an athlete can have vary depending on their state of mind. The most common eating disorder among athletes is anorexia athletic, in which the person compulsively exercises while depriving their body of the nutrients it needs to survive in order to get in shape. Other types of eating disorders among athletes include anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by unrealistic fear of weight gain, self-starvation, and conspicuous distortion of body image, and bulimia, where a person binges and purges after they feel guilty for eating.
What athletes don’t realize is how dangerous eating disorders are. While they may be the easy way out for athletes trying to lose weight, they cause long-term consequences that prevent them from competing in athletics in the future. When athletes over exercise and under nourish themselves, stress can be placed on an athlete’s heart, and along with an unhealthy diet, can result in medical problems and in extreme cases, death. The disorders can lead to a drop in blood pressure, hair loss and fingernail breakage, swollen joints, brittle bones, and a loss of the mineral potassium. These consequences are nowhere near worth shedding a few pounds.
Eating disorders also affect the athlete mentally. These disorders are considered to be a physiological disease, and the effect they have on the mind completely alters the persons prospective on how they really look. Even if the sufferer is wasting away to practically skin and bones, they may still see the larger shell of the person they used to be. Athletes who exercise compulsively view their self-worth on their athletic achievement. While the athletes live to be physically fit, they can be constantly tired, depressed, or anxious about their weight.
“You feel a lot drowsier in class when you’re dieting,” Mitrani said. “It feels weird when everyone around you is eating and you can’t.”
However, these days the danger of eating disorders among athletes is finally coming to light. By the media revealing the dangers of eating disorders, it will prevent athletes, as well as the rest of the population, from putting themselves through one. The documentary What’s Eating You? On E! is a painstakingly real insight into the lives of people with eating disorders and how their world had consequently been turned upside down. Another major window giving insight on eating disorders is the new movie The Black Swan, which tells the story of ballerinas competing with each other for the prime dance positions. It gives insight to the darkness behind the dance through an eerie tale of eating disorders and doing whatever it takes to get on top.
