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Lead Stories: Sunday, July 20, 2008

Lean Dreams: Eating Disorders on NCAA Teams

Posted May 15th, 2007 at 9:43 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Nutrition, Healthy Eating, SoundOFF, Columns, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise, Weight Loss

eating-disorder-mirror We see her running at cross-country and track meets every season; we watch her as she propels her thin arms and legs, conspicuous ribs, hollow cheeks and eyes, bulging veins and concave stomach forward. The visible markers on her body shout that something is not right, as her drive for perfection pushes her towards a dangerous dance with death.

The prominence of professional sports in America places athletes on the highest pedestal of celebrity, praise and respect. This cultural phenomenon gets replicated in college athletics in the form of big time Division I athletic programs. Often times, these programs incite the same excitement and feverish fandom as professional sports do - sometimes even more so because of the appeal of an athlete’s amateur status to the American imagination, and the almost cultish following of the universities that these athletes represent. Without question, the enormous pressure to excel and win in NCAA Division I programs creates serious issues concerning the physical well being of its athletes.
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Exercise Bulimia: When it’s gone too far

Posted December 1st, 2006 at 11:00 AM by Sarah Kaufman

Section: Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Health & Fitness, Exercise

exercise bulimia.jpg When you’re at the gym, you love running on the treadmill. You pump out five or six miles every time you go; sporadically varying the speed of your mile times to achieve the best possible work-out that your body can handle. You look beside you and see a woman who is also running on the treadmill. She’s running at the same speed; on her way to the same five or six miles.

But whether or not you’re able to realize it, there is something different about the two of you.

You feel amazing after your run. You feel empowered, you feel healthy, you feel unstoppable. But not her. She feels like she didn’t do enough for the day. Maybe she feels like she shouldn’t leave; not until she burns a few hundred extra calories (at least!).

We all know that exercise is good for you. It’s healthy. It allows you to live a longer, happier life. But when does exercise turn into an eating disorder? Read the rest of this entry »

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