Editing Disordered eating (section)

=== Athletic influences ===
Disordered eating among athletes, particularly female athletes, has been the subject of much research. In one study, women with disordered eating were 3.6 times as likely to have an eating disorder if they were athletes. In addition, female collegiate athletes who compete in heavily body conscious sports like gymnastics, swimming, or diving are shown to be more at risk for developing an eating disorder. This is a result of the engagement in sports where weekly repeated weigh-ins are standard, and usually required by coaches.<ref name="Voelker 2016 123–129"/>

A study published in ''Eating Behaviors'' examined the pressure of mandated weigh-ins on female collegiate athletes and how that pressure was dealt with in terms of weight management.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Tackett|first1=Bailey P.|last2=Petrie|first2=Trent A.|last3=Anderson|first3=Carlin M.|year=2016|title=The Frequency of Weigh-ins, Weight Intentionality and Management, and Eating Among Female Collegiate Athletes|journal=Eating Behaviors|volume=23|pages=82–85|doi=10.1016/j.eatbeh.2016.08.007|pmid=27579968 }}</ref> After analyzing over 400 survey responses, it was found that athletes reported increased uses of diet pills/laxatives, consuming less calories than needed for their sport, and following nutrition information from unqualified sources. 75% of the weighed athletes reported using a weight-management method such as restricting food intake, increasing exercise, eating low fat foods, taking laxatives, vomiting, and other.<ref name=":4" />

These habits were found to be worse in athletes that were weighed in front of their peers than those weighed in private.<ref name=":4" /> In addition, especially in gymnasts, preoccupation and anxiety about gaining weight and being weighed, and viewing food as the enemy were prevalent mindsets. This harmful mindset continued even after the gymnasts were retired from their sport: "Although retired, these gymnasts were still afraid to step onto a scale, were anxious about gaining weight…suggesting that the negative effects of being weighed can linger…[and] suggest[ing] that the weight/ fitness requirements acted as a socio-cultural pressure that would substantially increase the women’s risk of developing an eating disorder in the future."<ref name=":4" />

Disordered eating, along with [[Amenorrhoea|amenorrhea]] and bone [[Demineralization (physiology)|demineralization]], form what clinicians refer to as the female athletic triad, or FAT.<ref name="OAJSM">{{cite journal|last2=Innocencio da Silva Gomes|first2=Ainá|last3=Gonçalves Ribeiro|first3=Beatriz|last4=de Abreu Soares|first4=Eliane|date=May 12, 2014|title=Prevention of eating disorders in female athletes|journal=Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine|volume=5|pages=105–113|doi=10.2147/OAJSM.S36528|pmc=4026548|pmid=24891817|last1=Morgado de Oliveira Coelho|first1=Gabriela |doi-access=free }}</ref> In contribution to these eating disorders that these female athletes develop, Results in the lack of nutrition. This can lead to the loss of several or more consecutive periods which then leads to calcium and bone loss, putting the athlete at great risk of fracturing bones and damaging tissues. Each of these conditions is a medical concern as they create serious health risks that may be life-threatening to the individual. While any female athlete can develop the triad, adolescent girls are considered most at risk because of the active biological changes and growth spurts that they experience, rapidly changing life circumstances that are observed within the teenage years, and peer and social pressures.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/athletes-and-eating-disorders|title=Athletes and Eating Disorders|access-date=2016-11-24|newspaper=National Eating Disorders Association}}</ref>