17 Barclay Street, Building B3, Newtown PA 18940 | Buckingham Green, 4936 York Road, Suite 2300, Buckingham, PA 18902 | (215) 260-7570

17 Barclay Street, Building B3, Newtown PA 18940
Buckingham Green, 4936 York Road, Suite 2300, Buckingham, PA 18902
(215) 260-7570

Athletes & Eating Disorders

A 2004 Norwegian study on the connection between athletes and eating disorders found that athletes are nearly three times more likely to have an eating disorder than the non-athletes.

Dr. Stacy Hunt, Clinical & Sport Psychologist, and Leah Frazee, Lead Dietician, together with several of the providers at Bucks ESC, specialize in working with athletes of all ages and genders who are struggling with eating disorders and disordered eating.

Athletes can present with a traditional eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia. In other cases, an athlete is not intending to change their body size, but nevertheless doesn’t consume the necessary nutrition to fuel their high activity level. In such cases, an athlete may be diagnosed with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) (previously labelled Female Athlete Triad), which can affect their metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis and cardiovascular health.

Unlike the Female Athlete Triad, RED-S affects athletes of all genders. RED-S and other eating disorders in athletes not only affects their performance, but can have serious medical and mental health implications. These athletes require close monitoring from medical and nutrition professionals in addition to collaborative support from a trained eating disorder therapist.

The Bucks ESC providers who specialize in working with athletes are not only clinically trained to work with this population, they also have personal experience in the world of sports, some as young athletes and others as coaches as well.

To learn more about athletes and eating disorders, please click here to contact us.