Possessing these particular psychological traits to begin with puts the athletes at a greater risk for developing the disease. .
Given that non athletic individuals who suffer from eating disorders often have overbearing, controlling families who put pressure on them to succeed, it is not surprising that, athletes who are constantly under pressure to win resort to similar coping strategies. Specifically, in many cases athletes are under more pressure from more people; such as coaches and peers in conjunction with family members, hence putting them at a greater physiological risk to develop an eating disorder. Furthermore, the thin ideal in such sports as gymnastics, figure skating and ballet is often reinforced by coaches where it has been found that derogatory comments about performance and negative body image are directed to the youngest people in these sports, contributing to low self-esteem. The low self- worth and negative body image remarks often galvanize the athlete to strive for perfection and control by restricting food and or purging. Another reason that athletes are at such high risk for eating disorders in thin build sports is partially because of the extra attention they pay to their body and their high activity level, believing that tinier bodies perform better physically. (Need a reference).
Athletes who suffer from eating disorders do not enjoy the benefits of having a smaller frame; their sport suffers because of it. Starvation leads to low bone density and eventually osteoporosis placing the athletes at greater risk for stress fractures and injuries thwarting their performance. Purging affects the heart, the electrolyte balance in the body and the ph level in the blood. This could very well result in cardiac arrhythmias or even cardiac arrest. The lower ph in the blood which results in the loss of stomach acid causes the respiratory system to slow down to collect co2 in the blood stream.
