In a July 5 article on the website True/Slant, former world junior ice staking champion Jennifer Kirk revealed the degree to which she and others within the skating community were affected by eating disorders and unhealthy weight control measures:

Looking back on it now, I am able to understand that a lack of control over various aspects of my life manifested itself in what I ate.

At the time, the pain in my hip and the struggles I was having on my jumps, coupled with the anxiety of living alone for the first time and the pressure I was putting on myself to never "mess up" both on and off the ice, was too much for me to handle.

I felt that by controlling the number on the scale, I would be in control of all the things in my life that I felt were completely out of my control: the judges, whether or not I would skate well on a particular day, my mom not being around, pleasing my coach, etc.

However by doing this, I was entering into some very deep waters, which would take many years to learn to swim away from.

"Now that I'm on the other side of this disease, I worry when I see skaters who I know are struggling with what I worked so hard to get rid of," Kirk wrote. "It makes me angry that there is no one speaking out against what is so common in figure skating."

Labels: athletes, eating disorders, sports

A recent study conducted at the University of Denver found that women who have sports anxiety are more likely to experience eating disorder symptoms than women who do not have the anxiety, or aren't involved in competitive sports.

"The study of 274 female college undergraduates examined whether differences in eating disorder symptoms exist between women depending on the level of their athletic-exercise activities. The participants also completed questionnaires about attitudes and behaviors related to eating disorders, self esteem and sports anxiety."

Though many eating disorder experts agree that exercise can boost a woman's self-esteem, competitive sports can cause fear and worry about performance, thus driving women to overcompensate for their anxiety through eating disorders and other unhealthy behaviors.

Read more: Compulsive Exercisers and the
Female Athlete Triad

Labels: anxiety, body_image, sports

A new national survey by Harvard University of 3,000 people indicates that eating disorders are more common among males than people may think.

Researchers found that 25% of all those suffering from anorexia and bulimia and 40% of binge eaters are boys and men.

Most people associate eating disorders with females, which is the reason that parents, doctors, coaches and others do not identify such problems in boys. Males with eating disorders have a different motivation. Girls want to be thin and beautiful; boys want to be fit and "buff." Males often develop eating disorders to meet weight requirements for sports like wrestling or for military service.

The researchers also found that males are more likely to be overweight and older than girls are when they develop such disorders.

Labels: manorexia, motivation, sports