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.

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