ABSTRACT
Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that jeopardize the welfare of those who suffer from them, yet the sufferer is often ambivalent about accepting a diagnosis and seeking help. Disordered eating behavior, amenorrhea and osteoporosis, referred to as the 'female athlete triad', are common in elite female athletes. For male elite athletes, the high-risk sports fall into the same categories as for females: aesthetic sports, sports in which low body fat is advantageous, such as cross-country and marathon running, and sports in which there is a need to 'make weight', including wrestling and horse racing. In light of this it is unsurprising that the reported prevalence of eating disorders and sub clinical eating disorder symptoms in elite athletes/dancers is higher than that for the general population. Elite gymnastics is a relatively closed and stable setting where gymnasts generally reach the peak of their powers in adolescence or very early adulthood and retire by their mid-twenties.
