Butterfly: Let's Talk8 Mar 2021

Sports and eating disorders - what's the connection?

High-performance athletes are Australia's version of Royalty. They do superhuman things and adoring fans hail them as heroes, but off the field, they are human beings. And like all human beings, they are susceptible to eating disorders and body image issues. In fact, many athletes are at much higher risk of disordered eating and eating disorders due to the intense pressures and cultural expectations placed on them.
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the National Eating Disorder Collaboration (NEDC) have teamed up to come up with a set of guidelines to help sports teams, clubs and organisations identify warning signs and prevent athletes from developing eating disorders.
In 2004, Australian Swimmer Jessica Smith hit her lowest point. She was living out her dream to compete for her country in the Paralympics in Athens but her eating disorder was holding her back. She was expected to make a podium finish but she didn't even qualify for the final.
National basketball star Maddie Garrick's eating disorder took hold while she was a teenager but her experience was different from Jessica's. At the AIS she found the support and positive culture that she needed to thrive as an athlete and to find lasting recovery from her ED.
In this episode, we also hear from the AIS lead nutritionist, Nikki Jeacocke and prominent sports nutritionist Fiona Sutherland about how a new set of guidelines for sporting organisations is helping create a safe culture for high performing athletes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(88)

Where's the limit to enhancing your looks?

Paying attention to your appearance is a very human trait. And though we talk about accepting our bodies and learning to love them, most of us still think about our image a lot. We're not the only ...

2 Aug 202231min

In depth with body acceptance advocate Bella Davis

A few years ago, Isabella Davis impulsively took a photo of her body and posted it to her Instagram account. It was an act of defiance. She was sick of being told she wasn’t good enough, that she need...

19 Jul 202216min

How do you know it's an eating disorder?

It’s the most basic of questions and the one most often asked on the Butterfly Helpline: How do you know it’s an eating disorder? “If you’re even considering that there might be an eating disorder g...

5 Jul 202231min

How's life when your sibling has an eating disorder?

If a person experiences a mental health issue, most people know that their family is also affected in varying ways. In this podcast, we look at the impact of eating disorders on siblings– how they fee...

7 Jun 202227min

In Depth with CEO, National Mental Health Commission, Christine Morgan

Before she was the CEO of Australia’s Mental Health Commission, Christine Morgan served for 10 years as CEO of Butterfly. And to mark Butterfly’s 20th anniversary, she sat down with Sam Ikin for an in...

31 Mai 202229min

Eating Disorders: Past, present and future care

To mark 20 years of service to all those affected by body image issues and eating disorders, our new podcast looks at the past, present and future of care. Sam talks to Claire Middleton, the desperate...

3 Mai 202231min

In Depth with parenting expert Justin Coulson

The teenage years can be fun and exciting but they’re also a period when we’re particularly vulnerable to body image concerns. Young people are developmentally inclined to compare themselves to others...

19 Apr 202226min

Eating disorders and autism: More common than you think

The relationship between autism and eating disorders is not well known but it's surprisingly common. It's so common that some of Australia's top clinicians recommend everyone who lives with an eating ...

5 Apr 202226min