ABSTRACT
In the newly revised Female Athlete Triad (the Triad) position stand, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) asserts that low energy availability is the cornerstone of the metabolic and health consequences associated with the Triad; in other words, it is at the root of both menstrual dysfuction and poor bone health. Energy availability is defined as the amount of energy available for the metabolic processes of the body after energy is used for exercise, normalized for fat-free mass (FFM) (i.e., Energy availability = Energy intake – Energy expenditure per kilogram of fatfree mass) (Nattiv et al. 2007). Although low energy availability can (and often does) result from disordered eating, it may also result from the athlete inadvertently failing to meet exercise energy requirements due to, among other reasons, time constraints, food availability issues, and lack of appropriate nutrition knowledge, particularly as it relates to body weight management (Nattiv et al. 2007).
