More than ever, girls and young women are encouraged to participate in sports and exercise, and with expanding opportunities for college scholarships and world-class ranking, competition can be fierce. To gain a competitive edge, some girls go to great lengths to manage their body weight while training rigorously. But inadequate nutrition coupled with excessive training can lead to missed periods, and that can spell trouble.
Disruptions in Your Monthly Cycle
Occasional irregularity in your monthly cycle is seldom cause for alarm, but missing three periods or more in a row, a condition defined by MayoClinic.com as secondary amenorrhea, is not normal and may signal unidentified health problems. While amenorrhea can have many causes, a syndrome known as female athlete triad is often to blame for amenorrhea in young female athletes. Marked by disordered eating, excessive exercising and a drop in estrogen production, in its advanced stages, female athlete triad can lead to osteoporosis and possible bone fractures.
Training to Win
When pressure from coaches, parents and peers to excel in your sport is matched by your own internal drive, you may work harder to gain a competitive edge. But there is a point beyond which training nets you diminishing returns. Overtraining without adequate rest and nutrition can lead to chronic fatigue and hormonal changes in your body. According to Dr. Ann Sudoth of the Duluth Clinic, in addition to amenorrhea, effects of female athlete triad include low blood sugar, anemia, loss of muscle mass, decreased bone mass, low muscle fuel stores, dehydration and depletion of electrolytes, all of which can undermine your athletic performance and increase your risk for injury.
Sports and Body Image
A contributing factor to female athlete triad is dissatisfaction with body image, a condition known as dysmorphia. As girls' bodies mature and develop, normal adolescent weight gain and redistribution may cause athletic girls to think they are getting fat, a notion often reinforced by coaches. For girls, dysmorphia can lead to disordered eating, with severely restricted calorie and nutrient consumption. Sudoth notes that activities like ballet, figure skating and dance, which have subjective scoring based on appearance, can predispose girls to the syndrome, as can endurance sports that favor low body weight, sports that require body-contouring clothing and sports with weight-class categories like rowing and martial arts.
Finding a Healthy Balance
If you are an athlete whose period has stopped, professional intervention may be necessary. Your health care provider may suggest you seek the guidance of a nutritionist and possibly a mental health professional. As treatment, Sudoth recommends decreasing your exercise intensity, increasing your food consumption and restoring your body weight to at least 5 pounds above what it was before the onset of amenorrhea, or to 90 percent of ideal body weight for your height, age and gender.
References
- The Female Athlete Triad: Keren Kazis, M.D.
- Women's Sports Foundation; The Female Athlete Triad: Quick Facts; March 2007
- Duluth Clinic; Gender-Based Pathology; Ann Sudoth, M.D.
- American College of Sports Medicine; The Female Athlete Triad; Aurelia Nattiv, M.D., et.al.; 2007
- MayoClinic.com; Amenorrhea: Symptoms; May 2009
