CW: description of eating disorders, numbers
At only 17 years old, Mary Cain was on the road to being the next Simone Biles, Serena Williams, or Katie Ledecky of track and field. She was a record-breaking athlete, the youngest American to ever join the World Championship team, and preparing for the Olympics. In short, she was a phenomenon. But before Cain had the chance to make history, her career fell into shambles due to the abusive culture of the elite track team she was signed to, Nike’s Oregon Project. During her time with the team, Mary Cain was pushed by her male coach to eat less and less to lose weight. Refusing to diet would mean losing her place on the best track team in the world; for a young athlete with big dreams, her choice was clear. However, instead of receiving the nutrition she needed to thrive as an athlete, Cain was eating so little that she didn’t menstruate for three years, broke five bones during her time with the team, and was having suicidal thoughts.
Mary Cain came forward with her story after leaving the Oregon Project, but she is certainly not the only athlete to have experienced this abusive culture; this is a picture all too common in women’s athletics. Almost any athlete would agree that nutrition in athletics is just as important as training. Great athletes are conscientious of what goes into their bodies, but this conscientiousness can develop into a disordered fixation as a result of intense pressure and performance standards. Eating disorders are a serious issue, and women athletes are at a higher risk for developing them than male athletes or non-athlete women.
There are currently eight eating disorders with diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Of these, the most well-known, and the one that most commonly affects athletes, is anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa, often shortened colloquially to anorexia, is a disorder characterized by intense restriction of food intake which leads to unhealthy weight loss and an unexpectedly low weight. Those diagnosed with eating disorders are often distressed at the thought of gaining weight, and consistently exhibit behaviors to prevent weight gain. There are two subtypes of anorexia nervosa—the binging/purging subtype, in which the affected individual engages recurrently in self-induced vomiting, the use of laxatives/diuretics, or binge eating, and the restricting subtype, in which these binging/purging behaviors are not engaged in. In athletes, heavy restriction of food intake along with intensive exercise is often referred to as anorexia athletica, a specific subtype of anorexia nervosa that affects athletes but has no official diagnostic criteria.
Something important to note about eating disorders like anorexia nervosa is that, contrary to the beliefs of many, they are not choices—they are real, treatment-warranting illnesses. There are many causal factors that can lead to the development of an eating disorder, and like most psychological disorders, the causes are not yet fully understood. What we do know is that genetics, culture, biology, and environment all have a role to play. Athletes are at a higher risk because of the environment they spend much of their time in—one that links low body weight to high performance, thinness to winning, and struggle to success.
When it comes to athletics, another condition, orthorexia, warrants discussion as well. Having no official diagnostic category, this condition is often filed under “Other specified feeding or eating disorder,” the “catch-all” diagnostic category for disordered eating practices that do not fit elsewhere. Restrictive in nature just like anorexia nervosa, orthorexia is characterized by an intense fixation with “healthy” food, with fear or distress being caused by the consumption of any food seen by an individual as too “unhealthy.” Orthorexia, like anorexia nervosa, is likely to lead to nutritional deficiencies and low body weight, and the individual often lacks awareness of the severity of their body’s condition.
The problem with women’s athletics is that symptoms like osteoporosis (brittle bones) and amenorrhea (lack of the menstrual period) are seen as normal in the context of the sport, attributed falsely by coaches and athletes alike to intense exercise when they’re truly a result of nutritional deficiency. This is a dangerous lack of recognition. Weight and size are rewarded an undue emphasis in athletics as well; in sports with subjectively judged aesthetic components, like diving, gymnastics, and dance, there is intense pressure to have a certain body type, and in sports requiring speed like track and swimming, having “less weight to carry” is seen as advantageous. Athletes often weigh in right in front of their coaches and teammates, the number on the scale displayed for all to see. On top of all these added pressures, female athletes are subjected to the same everyday beauty standards that affect us all—things like unrealistic body standards seen on social media and photoshopped magazine covers. It makes sense that there’s an eating disorder epidemic in women’s athletics, but that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.
The fight against this culture in women’s athletics begins with women like Mary Cain. What happened to her should never have happened, and by making her experiences publicly known, she is taking a step to making sure it never happens to another girl. It starts with athletes like Gracie Gold, a figure-skating prodigy who has told her story of food restriction, binge-eating and purging, depression, and suicidal ideation after a coach told her that 124 pounds was “a big number.” And it starts with Yulia Lipnitskaya, who retired from figure skating to seek inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa after competing in the Olympics at age 15. These are devastating stories, but these women’s courage in speaking out is a step towards destroying the sinister food culture in women’s athletics. We can only hope to continue building awareness and recognition for this issue, so that the faces we see on every Olympic stage to come are smiling and healthy ones.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, contact the NEDA Helpline for support, resources, and treatment options.
Featured Image: Gracie Lam for The New York Times