The scourge of anorexia and bulimia in women's sports: "I came to weigh 36 kilos"

«At 16 years old, measuring 1.52 meters, I weighed 36 kilos.

It was the competition weight, with which I went to the 2018 World Cup. If I weighed 37 or 38 kilos, my coach told me I was fat and the punishments began: running in circles or climbing stairs, and, of course, nothing to eat or drink.

So I was diagnosed with anorexia and then, at the end of 2020,

.

For a long time I associated gymnastics with going hungry and with the humiliation I suffered, "says gymnast

, 20 years old, who long ago denounced her coach at the Mabel Benicarló Club and this January she managed to get her disqualified.

Her career, yes, fell by the wayside: from being international, five times champion of Spain, to practicing sports as a hobby, little else.

«At the age of 11 I began to modify what I ate and how much I ate, but I did not think it was a problem.

Not at all.

In fact, many people congratulated me: I only ate healthy, in very limited quantities... At 15 I realized that something was wrong.

She suffered from anemia and hormonal problems.

But around me, many girls stagnated due to puberty, due to the bodily changes it entails, and I could not allow that to happen to me.

That's why it took me a long time to get help," says American runner

, 26, a three-time winner of the NCAA 3,000-meter hurdles, who recalls in conversation with this newspaper how her eating disorder slowed her rise to professional athletics.

“Due to a personal traumatic experience, I was first diagnosed with anorexia nervosa in 2015, when I was in high school.

Thanks to my environment, my family, I recovered.

But last year, in the middle of the season, in January, I suffered a relapse.

After so many years, I thought that my relationship with food had improved a lot, but due to the pressure of the competition and spending a long time traveling alone in Europe, I went back to the same thing.

And the worst thing is that at the beginning my results were good, things were not going badly for me.

That is why

, "acknowledged the American skier

, 21, in a chat with this newspaper during the Skimo World Cups that were held a few days ago at the Boí Taull station.

Skier Grace Staberg. WORLD

Young women, sports and eating disorders: a problem that has been repeated for decades.

Despite the recent programs promoted by the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sports (Aepsad) or the Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA), gymnastics, athletics, cycling or synchronized swimming continue to chain cases and more cases.

a chronic problem

In some, such as the gymnastics Añó, the trigger is direct, an irresponsible coach, but in others, such as the runner Ostrander or the skier Staberg, they reside in the environment itself or it is even the results themselves that lead to the young people to restrict their intake and fall into anorexia or bulimia.

A few years ago, in fact, the Aepsad already warned about the high incidence of a kind of

in young athletes:

.

How can you deal with this scourge?

«A lot of awareness is needed: if a car does not go without gasoline, an athlete does not go without food.

Everyone should know.

And everyone should check that this is true.

That there be external personnel, psychologists, nutritionists, physios, who are attentive;

that they ask us athletes how we are, how we feel... In general, that the Spanish Federation or the territorial federations know quickly if a coach is pressing too much with the weight", analyzes the gymnast Añó, who assures that "with the help doctor" has overcome many traumas regarding food -

- although he has not recovered his level: "I have returned to training, but I go very little to bit.

I will not get to where she was she ».

The runner Allie Ostrander. WORLD

“Food is still singled out as an enemy to female athletes when in large part it is what allows us to reach our potential.

You have to change the perspective at all levels.

Weight is related to performance, but so are glycogen, iron or vitamin reserves, strength, rest and quality of life in general," reflects Ostrander, now a runner for Nnormal, the brand created by

a year ago, who noted: «My relationship with food is still not perfect.

To have a good relationship I need to trust my body more, to tell me what it really needs.

a wrong approach

"Education is very important.

Weight is related to speed in some sports, that's true, but it's only part of the puzzle.

Young athletes should know that feeling strong, well fed and healthy is what leads to success, to having a long career.

At certain ages, especially in sports, it is normal to feel vulnerable, to have doubts, and in those difficult moments a good education is everything”, says the skier Staberg, who recommends that all her professional colleagues go to nutrition professionals.

“I have found it incredibly helpful to start working with a nutritionist and learn from him about the relationship between food and performance.

Now I seek balance and do not impose restrictions that limit me.

My nutritionist says: 'Always eat enough.

Sometimes he eats too much.

Never eat too little.'

I think that's good advice."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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