Food: An Athlete’s Fuel--Editorial #1

Below is my editorial for the topic-- Athletes and Eating Disorders.

When hearing the term ‘athlete,’ the words that come to mind tend to be tone, fit, muscular, in-shape, and even work-out fanatic. These all relate to the body image perceived by an individual. Of the many activities, professional occupations for some, one can become involved within a society; athletics seem to be the culprit for accepting frail, thin, almost sickly looking figures.

In sports such as gymnastics, ballet, dancing, running and figure-skating, an emphasis for the athlete to be thin is present. This explains why a study done by the American College of Sports Medicine claimed that eating disorders affected 62 percent of females involved in these activities. The two most common types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Anorexia Nervosa, more commonly known as anorexia, occurs when one limits their food intake, even though they are already too thin. Someone who is anorexic has an intense fear of gaining weight and tends to think about food often. Bulimia is when one eats an excess amount of food in a short time frame, known as binging. Binging causes feelings of shame and guilt, so the individual with bulimia tries to "undo" the binge by getting rid of the food, resulting to purging.

So, what or whom is to take the blame for these unrealistic body images? Often times an athlete feels pressured to be thin in order to impress coaches or judges with hopes of receiving the highest score possible and a pat on the back for a performance. Besides running, the athletic events mentioned previously require the athlete to take part in an atmosphere where judges are the ones who determine the participant’s score. Far too often, a judge considers the athlete’s body image—how thin they are—to play a factor in their overall performance score. Even wrestling requires a specific weight limit based on the weight class in which you want to compete. Many men involved in this sport resort to an eating disorder to cut weight before a meet. Due to the mindset that being on top and performing to one’s utmost level will occur if the athlete is thin, and having the pressure of coaches ‘be thin’ policy in the back of one’s mind, an eating disorder evolves.

Let’s face it—food is a necessity. An athlete with an eating disorder is at a higher risk of organ failure, leading to cardiac arrest, than a non-athlete. Research from the University of Leeds revealed that one in ten of Britain’s female distance runners has some kind of eating disorder. In 1994, Christy Henrich, a top world gymnast, lost her life at the age of 22 due to multiple organ failure. Henrich resorted to anorexia and bulimia after being told by a U.S. judge that she was too fat and needed to lose weight.

Athletes need food to replenish and nourish their bodies after putting themselves through strenuous, physical workouts. Dropping digits on the scale by refusing to eat and/or purging will not make an athlete compete better or perform stronger; the only result will be a handicap to their performance.

There are numerous ways to keep the weight off, in a healthier, body-friendly manner. Athletes today should not be judged by their skeleton-like figures. They compete in their sport for the enjoyment it brings them, not the body transformations some must undergo. As the race or competition comes to an end, what athlete wants to cross the finish line in a wheel chair? Worse yet, fail and not finish at all.



Signs and symptoms of eating disorders are often times difficult to see. While searching other resources for information on this topic, I came across some material that helps distinguish myths from realities of eating disorders. Some of the information came as a shock to me, while other facts cleared up some misconceptions that I had. One fact in particular was that you can not always tell that someone has an eating disorder by the size of their body. In many cases an individual is only 5 or 10 lbs. underweight but they may still have symptoms of an eating disorder. Here is the link to the Myths/Realities page: http://www.mirror-mirror.org/myths.htm. Look around the site for other interesting information discussing this topic.

Athletes and Eating Disorders-Personal Observation

Among my research to the National/International topic of my editorial, I began paying more attention to my fellow athletes that I am surrounded by daily. Though tennis was not on the list of sports where eating disorders are most commonly found, I realized that watching the kinds of foods we put into our bodies tends to go along with just being an athlete. For instance, chowing down on a Big Mac with cheese, a large order of fries and a soda is enough to make me want to gag, let alone I'm sure I would feel incredibly sluggish during a match or practice had I chose this for a meal. Instead, my choice would be somewhere along the lines of a turkey sand which, trisket crackers, and an apple, orange or banana. Making healthy choices when it comes to meals goes hand-in-hand with the amount of energy I feel to get me through a practice or meet, or at least that is how I think.

This same theory can be applied to those in the sports of gymnastics, dancing and ballet, our thin-bodies desired sports. Those who choose to starve oneself, anorexia, or binge-eat and then purge, bulimia, are not getting enough nutrients to go on doing their daily regimen of practices and competitions. They are running out of energy because their bodies are so low and scarce of these necessities. An affect of this is their bodies turning to other organs to try and find anything to help energize the body to keep it going. Let's face it...food is an essential part of all of our everyday lives. We NEED food to survive--that's obvious! Starvation and/or binge-eating is not the key to keeping weight off. It's simply supplying our bodies with the right foods it needs to allow us to do the daily things we want/need to do.

Athletes, more than ever we need food. Think of the total amount of calories one burns in a practice setting alone. What about a day filled with lifting and conditioning, practice and then a competition the following day? Now think of the strain you put on your body when in competition, it tends to be far more than just at practice. Often times I wake up sore and stiff from a meet, however I know that eating the right foods help restore the muscle fibers I have slightly torn from competing and lifting. Without these essential nutrients replenishing my body I would continue to break down muscle fibers in my body resulting in possible injuries.

I have known other athletes who think being thin will help them compete at a higher level, well, if you are starving yourself from the nutrients our bodies need...Good Luck with that!

Athletes and Eating Disorders--Editorial #1

For our first editorial assignment we are to write on a National/International Issue. Sticking with my desired interest of athletics, I found some interesting articles while researching sport/athletic issues today. The first I came across, of course, was that concerning the ever-so-talked-about Title Nine. Seeming that this topic has been discussed time after time, I searched further and discovered some articles pertaining to athlete's and their body image. It was interesting to read how sports such as gymnastics, running, ballet, figure-skating and dancing, athletics in which thin bodies seems to be a crucial element, have numerous cases of athletes with eating disorders. Anorexia and Bulimia are the two most common types of eating disorders found in athletes. According to womenshealth.gov, someone with anorexia has an intense fear of gaining weight. They tend to think about food a lot and limit their intake of food, even though they are too thin. Many claim that anorexia is more than just a problem with food. It's a way of using food or starving oneself to feel more in control of life and to ease tension, anger, and anxiety. Someone with bulimia eats an excess amount of food in a short time frame, called binging. The fear gaining weight after a binge is present in this case. Binging also can cause feelings of shame and guilt. So, the person tries to "undo" the binge by getting rid of the food, purging.

One of the articles I came across discussed the fact that some athletes have a desperate desire to be thin in order to please coaches and judges. This makes sense why we see these issues in sports like dancing and gymnastics instead of basketball or softball. In every gymnastics or dance competition the individual is constantly judged for every leap, jump, turn, and flip they do. The athlete with the highest, tightest, most perfect trick is the one who will score the best in that particular event. Even though how thin the performing athlete is should not be a factor to the judges score or coaching staff, it still tends to play a role. Because of the strain to be thin placed on these athletes, the choose to undergo outrageous tactics to please themselves by being the best they can be at their sport.

Over the years, many athletes have admitted to having eating disorders that developed while training to perfect their sport. Some have been able to come out of the disorder with help of nutritionists, doctors and even support from family and friends. Others have not been as lucky. In 1994, Christy Henrich died due to multiple organ failure from her eating disorders. At the age of 22 her weight dropped to 47 lbs. One of the most common outcomes of having an eating disorder is the heart failing and going into cardiac arrest. With the intense workouts athletes already undergo, they need essential nutrients to replenish their bodies. When the athlete chooses not to eat, their body becomes deficient in those nutrients in which organs begin to fail. If you are working off calories be sure to out them back on!

Tennis--Not what you'd expect!

Many of you, after hearing the term tennis, think of a ritzy, leisure activity that elderly people play in the beaming sun of their southern retirement homes/complexes. A sport so different from that of, let's say football. Of course it is not uncommon in the realm of football to see beer-drinking fans guzzle a few down and then strike up an argument with the opposing team's fans. As for tennis, an outbreak such as this is almost completely unheard of...that was of course until Serbia's tennis star, Novak Djokovic, the defending men's champion, beat Bosnian-born American Amer Delic. Thursday night during the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
News reporters refer to it as ethnic violence. Numerous chairs were thrown around at the conclusion of this match, one chair striking a women and leaving her unconscious. Along with chairs, insults, water bottles and almost anything one could get their hands on to throw were invloved in this chaotic event. Police told reporters that about 30 Bosnian and Serbian youths were ejected from Melbourne Park last night. Some of the men being charged with riotous behavior and one in particular was fined immediately.
Concluding a match, players are brought in to an interviewing room where they are asked questions about thier match, training up to it and how they felt they played. Due to the outbreak during Djokovic and Delic's match all the focus during their interview was centered on the vilence that had occured in the stands between the two players' fans.
On a lighter note, this same day, a man ran down on a court dancing and wearing nothing from the waist down. Security must have had enough antics for the day because he was immediately taken away and arrested for his behavior.
What a day in Melbourne! I can assure you that in all my years of playing tennis, a match has never been so exciting and action-packed as those played yesterday at the Australian Open. However I can tell you that the level of competition the UNK tennis team shows is definitely one reason on its own to come out and support us this season! http://www.lopers.com/tennis/09schedule.htm

President Obama, Our 44th President

It's official! President Obama has taken his oath and has been sworn into presidency. For those of you who were not able to catch this historical event I have included a link to President Obama's inauguration speech. As I first watched there seemed to be some confusion with words as Obama was being sworn into presidency. Later I discovered that it was not President Obama's fault. He was given the wrong phrases to repeat back to Chief Justice John Roberts, who chose not to read the words from a script, instead from his own memory. Concluding the oath, President Obama took the stand and greeted the 1.2 million plus people that attend this honorary event. His speech spoke of the road ahead and he left out policy after policy like the many speeches during the running for President-- it was a nice change to not hear all of that...again! President Obama's inauguration speech. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27721638/vp/28657278/#video Indeed, he has his work cut out for him, that is evident! But with the backing of the people of the United States of America, I believe we can foresee change, for the better, in our country!

The President's Last Good-bye

The President's Last Goodbye--Slate Magazine http://www.slate.com/id/2209137/

In this article, Slate Magazine reporter, Christopher Beam, describes the good-bye party for President Bush, Sunday night at Glen Echo Park in Maryland. Beam was among a mix of White House, State Department, Treasury, and Justice personnel. He described this event as more sweet than bitter. A casual attire was the dress code for this chilled evening as the invitees celebrated the past eight years together. A common question seemed to be what was next for many of those that gathered. A few high-profile personnel that Beam approached questioned his presence at the party. One in particular telling him that he hopes he makes it out alive.
After the band stopped playing President Bush and his wife were applauded onto stage where Bush expressed his appreciation to those he had worked so closely with over the past eight years. He concluded by saying, “if anyone needs a nice meal, come knock on our door in Dallas, Texas,” then waved good-bye.
I think this was a great way for President Bush to go out. Having a farewell party with those he worked so closely with, side-by-side each day, shows a great deal of appreciation and sincerity.

Hello World!

As a senior Journalism student at the University of Nebraska @ Kearney I am enrolled in the class JMC 425-Blogging. I have created my first blog and now, my first post, I guess it is safe to say...Here We Go!!!