The female athlete triad is a health condition in which active women experience three inter-related disorders due to unhealthy body weight and eating habits. In the case of the triad, the word active refers to females who display moderate to high intensity levels of performance. The rate of performance must be high in order to counterbalance the decrease in calorie intake. Females who perform at a high intensity are at risk for the triad since they do not take in enough calories to fulfill the amount expended. The three disorders within the female athlete triad are osteoporosis, disordered eating, and menstrual dysfunction. Not all females experience all three of the conditions, however new data has indicated that even having one or
An American judge for gymnastics told Henrich that she would need to drop some weight in order to qualify for the 1988 Olympic team. Henrich tried to control her diet and exercise which resulted in a five year battle with anorexia and bulimia. At the time of Henrich’s death, she was four foot ten inches, sixty one pounds and only twenty-two years old (2). Sports that involve the athletes to wear body-contouring or body-revealing clothing such as swimming, volleyball, aerobics, cheerleading, gymnastics, and track are also associated with high risk for the female athlete triad (7). Athletes should know their limits in order to prevent the development of an unhealthy diet condition, which has the potential to lead to death. Finally, college females are prone to the triad since they are in a hormonal transitional phase in college (4). Generally, they have finished puberty and are leaving home to be on their own. In addition to their own weight control, they are now worried about being independent and fitting in to the social atmosphere. Athletes especially do not want to undergo this difficult transition and therefore participate in whatever exercise and diet habits that can make them happy. There are many methods that can be utilized to prevent female athletes from developing the female athlete triad. Prevention is sometimes difficult due to the fact that athletes will