Anorexia athletica

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Anorexia athletica is the name for a disorder of eating behavior in athletes, which is defined as the deliberate reduction in body weight to underweight. When Exercise Bulimia is the special form of bulimia in athletes to reduce weight. Neither of them is classified as an eating disorder in the clinical sense; neither “anorexia athletica” nor “exercise bulimia” are listed in the ICD-10 .

Weight reduction can be achieved through strict diet as well as through excessive exercise. If these are used excessively over a long period of time, they can become independent and lead to the development of a psychogenic eating disorder. Technical studies and surveys have shown that some sports seem to promote disrupted eating behavior or that people with a tendency to certain personality traits, which can also be the reason for an eating disorder, practice these sports particularly frequently. Above all, these sports include

  • aesthetic sports
  • Endurance sports
  • Weight class sports

It should also be noted that athletes in particular are affected. Nevertheless, a higher "disease rate" can also be found in men than in a comparable group of the normal population of the same age. Anorexia athletica also has the usual consequences of an eating disorder for the body, depending on the severity and type of weight reduction. The borderline between the advantage of lower mass and the disadvantage of weak muscles, greater susceptibility to injury and other consequences can be very close. Likewise, the risk of slipping into anorexia nervosa is constantly present when weight reduction becomes a matter of course.

Area of ​​aesthetic sports

The aesthetic sports are z. B. figure skating , gymnastics , rhythmic gymnastics , synchronized swimming , high diving or dance are counted. Referees assess the technical and artistic value of the exercises. In the case of the artistic note, the overall impression is also assessed, in which the appearance of the athletes is incorporated. The western ideal of a slim body is an important criterion for success. With a low body weight, it is easier to jump higher, you can turn faster or be lifted more easily in pair disciplines.

In the Rhythmic Gymnastics (RG) number of athletes can be found with severely underweight according to a survey: 60% of respondents have a BMI of less than 17.5. The athletes are required to have technical ability and extraordinary mobility and overstretchability of joints, muscles and ligaments ( hypermobility ). A low body mass facilitates great mobility. Thus, a technical advantage can be achieved through the low weight.

Endurance sports

Typical endurance sports are long-distance running , biathlon , cross-country skiing and cycling . But also swimming over longer distances or as a combination of several individual triathlon disciplines .

In these sports, being light often leads to better performance. The maximum endurance capacity is indirectly improved through lower body mass. Nevertheless, you must pay close attention to the boundary between optimal and too low weight, because too low a weight leads to a decrease in muscle mass and thus to a decrease in working muscles that are required for the provision of energy.

Carbohydrate reserves ( glycogen ) are gradually depleted beyond the 90-minute limit, so that with increasing duration of the required performance, more and more fats play a role as energy sources. After more than six hours, the body uses additional proteins to generate energy.

Due to the simultaneous release of endorphins during the competition, these athletes have a so-called runner's high after the competition , which pretends the body does not need any food. Athletes who give in to this feeling are particularly at risk for an eating disorder (see sports addiction ).

Cross-country skiing

In international cross-country skiing competitions, a race track consists of around 60–70% inclines. Here, a low body weight has advantages for runners: the weight of your own body has to overcome the height differences as quickly as possible, which a lighter body can do faster.

In a study of 100 German athletes from the A / B / C teams of the DSV between 1990 and 1995, 14% had a BMI of <19 and 2% even had a BMI of <17. Of these athletes, 56.5% were between 16 and 17 years old, 25.3% had secondary amenorrhea .

A further study of ten cross-country skiers of the German national team (1989–1991) showed that an average BMI was also found here in underweight. According to their BMI, two athletes were severely underweight, and since there was a regular break, it can be assumed that the athletes were suffering from an eating disorder at the time of the examination.

Mountain run

When running in the mountains , not only the distance is important, there is also a difference in altitude of usually more than 1000 meters. When running in the mountains, there is a very special strain on the body. You run for an hour with maximum pulse load, a large part of it with over-acidic legs. This requires special muscles. It also helps to be light.

Weight-limited sports

All those sports in which weight can be decisive for victory or defeat are rated as weight class sports. Classics among them are the martial arts such as wrestling , boxing or judo , but also weightlifting and lightweight (rowing) . Here there is an incentive for the athletes to reach a lower weight class through starvation in order to be able to compete against supposedly weaker opponents.

In horse racing , handicappers set the general balance for each horse. This is used to calculate the weight ( handicap ) that a horse has to carry during a certain race. The rider, together with the saddle equipment, must not fall below a certain weight. However, it is an advantage not to exceed this weight, which is why the jockeys must weigh less than 55 kg.

rowing

When rowing, a distinction must be made between the rowers and the helmsmen . While there is a maximum weight for lightweight rowers that must not be exceeded, there is also a minimum weight for helmsmen. However, this is already implemented in competition practice as a target weight, because every superfluous kilo brings a team disadvantage in the time that the helmsman does not row himself. Nevertheless, this minimum weight was actually introduced to protect the helmsman. The weighing date is usually one to two hours before the start of the competition. Often, however, the weight of the helmsman is 1-2 kg below the minimum weight. This is then achieved for weighing by excessive drinking and then excreted again by taking dehydrating agents.

The highest weight class using the example of boxing

In boxing - as in all martial arts - there is a maximum weight class in which all athletes start whose weight is above a certain value. As soon as athletes have reached this weight class, it is important to gain advantages by using as much weight as possible. In doing so, the advantage must be found between too high a weight, which leads to sluggishness, and underweight, which brings advantages to the heavier opponent.

Other sports

Ski jumping

A low body weight is advantageous in ski jumping. In 2003, the German Ski Association (DSV) had to contend with the accusation that it was putting too much pressure on its jumpers by means of combat weighing. At least that's how it is portrayed by jumpers like Frank Löffler in 2003, who, he claims, was removed from the squad because of his excessive body weight. Even if the jumpers themselves do not make any allegations, the public is sensitized when pictures of the athletes from summer vacation or training are shown - without protective, concealing clothing. Sven Hannawald said after vacation photos of him were published that showed an extremely well-trained athlete without a gram of fat, he was shocked that his body was only made of skin and bones and hardly any muscles.

The Swiss jumper Stephan Zünd made his anorexia known after he had finished his career. He had starved himself to 60 kg, at a height of 1.72 m and ultimately only fed on mineral water when he had ended his career in favor of therapy.

This is one of the reasons why new regulations , initiated by the International Ski Federation (FIS), came into force in 2004 , according to which ski jumpers must achieve a healthy balance of body length and weight. This is calculated using the BMI. In 2016, a body mass index of at least 21 including suit and shoes is required to use the full length of the ski.

Individual cases in other sports

The fact that anorexia is repeatedly associated with certain sports does not mean that it does not exist in other sports. Whether it is a sport-induced eating disorder or an eating disorder for other reasons must be investigated on a case-by-case basis. Often, however, an eating disorder has also arisen as a result of great public pressure. The clothes, especially those of the athletes, are usually tight, tight-fitting and short, like bikinis in beach volleyball or tennis clothes. A few years ago the international volleyball federation caused a sensation , which made such clothing compulsory with regard to TV ratings. Athletes are also dependent on advertising contracts and these can only be found if the external appearance is right. Thus, the emergence of an eating disorder of z. B. explain to tennis players. Accordingly, there are on average more affected female athletes than in the normal population, but correspondingly equally as in actresses or singers.

See also

literature

  • Dirk Clasing: The eating disordered athlete. Federal Institute for Sport Science, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-89001-194-2 .
  • Maja Langsdorff: Ballet - and then? Life pictures of dancers who no longer dance. Books on Demand , Norderstedt 2005, ISBN 3-8334-1796-X .
  • M. Lebenstedt u. a: Eating Disorders in Competitive Sports - A Guide for Athletes, Trainers, Parents and Caregivers. Federal Institute for Sport Science. Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-89001-135-7 .
  • Peter Scheer, Michaela Tappauf: Eating disorders and (competitive) sport project - when sport is (s) t sick. University Clinic Graz, 2007.
  • Edda Weimann: Hormonal disorders in young people who do competitive sports. In: Monthly for Pediatrics. 01/2008, pp. 39-46.
  • Veronika Rauchsteiner: Eating disorders in sports. Body cult - slimming mania - anorexia athletica. Diplomica Verlag, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-8428-8909-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. CD-10-GM version 2013; Chapter V, Mental and Behavioral Disorders ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dimdi.de
  2. Stefan Zünd: How badly was your eating behavior disturbed? ( Memento of March 12, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) Wortplatz, BZ, October 20, 2000, via sportpsychologie.ch
  3. FIS regulation on the BMI . on skispringen.com.