Eating Disorders in Sport

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses with some of the highest health risks in medicine, and they are more common in sport than many people realise, in men as well as women.

For the sport and exercise medicine (SEM) clinician they matter twice over. They need proper specialist treatment, and the first signs are often physical ones seen in clinic: recurrent bone stress injuries, poor recovery, fatigue or menstrual disturbance.

The link to sport runs through low energy availability and relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs), where too little energy for the demands of training harms bone, hormonal and other body systems. Early recognition, a careful response and the right specialists can be lifesaving.