‘Data obsession’ harms women athletes
Just under half of Kiwi women who exercise are at risk of doing harm to their health, as modern data tracking devices help push them toward eating disorders and overtraining.
A culture of ‘constant calculation’ through phone applications, smart watches and fitness trackers which keep exercise and calories data is the crux of the problem, says Waikato University professor of sociology of sport Dr Holly Thorpe.
Eating disorders and over-training are rife, and not just in professional sport. Even recreational athletes are affected, she says. Most runners, men and women, experience performance and appearancerelated body-image pressure, her research has revealed.
But women are impacted at a higher rate and at more risk, due to ‘fear of getting fat’ social pressures, dieting and regaining control of one’s life or body.
Most women used tracking devices to monitor daily training and calories expended. Some shared data with coaches, others simply tracked themselves.
‘‘They are constantly calculating how many calories consumed, burned, distances travelled,’’ Thorpe says.
‘‘Yes, such technologies can certainly aid in training and performances, but for those with particular personality types – think type A, perfectionists – (they) can lead to data obsession, which can further fuel already highly disciplined training and nutritional practices.’’
Tracking applications calculate calories and exercise to give wearers an indication of whether they are meeting their daily goals. The risk is of creating an addictive and dangerous culture for women, who were more inclined to become obsessive over their weight or progress.
Additional layers of data can add to the problem of not eating enough to fuel an exercise regime, which can be unhealthy, Thorpe says.
‘‘Even when they know how many calories they expended and how much they need to eat to adequately refuel, some are purposefully under-fuelling.
‘‘Obviously this is a clear sign of some underpinning psychological issues, but the key point here is that more data doesn’t necessarily lead to better health or performances in the end.’’
In team environments, the issue can be further damaging to mental health. Sharing weight or fitness data to a team or group can lead to ‘‘public shaming’’ for some, and pride and motivation for others. For some, tracking devices can be a slippery slope, and it would be good practice for athletes to occasionally take a moment to reflect on how the technologies affect them, Thorpe says.
‘‘Is the data leading to better health and training practices, or is the device controlling an athlete and facilitating a problematic human-technology relationship?’’
Exercisers who are deliberately underfuelling should get clinical help from a trained psychologist or mental health expert, she says.
The obsessed Kiwi woman exerciser
A recent University of Otago study revealed 45 percent of recreational exercising Kiwi women at risk of low energy availability (LEA), as a result of not eating or drinking enough to fuel their exercise..
LEA percentages increase to between 70 and 100 in lean sports such as swimming, aesthetic sports such as ballet, and endurance sports such as long distance running.
Kiwi middle-distance runner Rosa Flanagan spelt out the dangers of underfuelling when she spoke to about her her mental and physical health struggles.
Her body and mind suffered drastically. She began to feel anti-social, low in energy and failing in most aspects of her life, but she ignored all the signs.
Her physical wellbeing was the first to fold. She stopped menstruating, skipped puberty and her iron levels were dangerously low.
Female eating disorders in running are so prominent researchers have named them the ‘‘female triad athlete’’. Three interrelated conditions of compromised bone health, disordered eating practices, and menstrual disturbance make up the triad.
Recently, scientists renamed the female triad in sport relative energy deficiency (RED), as it can also occur in males, barring the loss of menstruation.
‘‘To simplify, imagine a car running on empty for a long period of time either because the driver forgot to fill up, or because she was purposefully not refuelling,’’ says Thorpe.
‘‘For some female athlete and exercisers experiencing REDs from purposeful under-fuelling, for example dieting or disordered eating practices, there are psychological associations between food, training and body image that can be all-consuming and become very problematic.’’
RED has acute and chronic implications for injury rates, psychological wellbeing, and the health of skeletal, reproductive, cardiovascular, immunological, and gastro-intestinal systems, Thorpe says.
Together, RED and LEA disorders can cause life-long damage. Diagnosis can be difficult as every athlete and human body is different. Amenorrhea (the chronic loss of menstruation) is widely acknowledged as a key.
The offshoot of low fuelling is increased cortisol, impaired recovery, endocrine dysfunction (low estrogen in women, low testosterone in men) and thyroid dysfunction.
‘‘Anecdotally, some sports like running seem to have a higher prevalence, but in New Zealand we really don’t yet know the full extent of RED across different sports,’’ Thorpe says.
Thorpe and research partner Professor Stacy Sims are researching REDs among Kiwi sportswomen across triathlon, ironman, rugby sevens, and weightlifting.
Different sports have ideal body types, which as a result puts different pressures and expectations on athletes.
‘‘The triathletes and ironman distance athletes in our study all believed that a lean body is associated with good performances, whereas our sevens players recognised that different
‘‘The key point here is that more data doesn’t necessarily lead to better health or performances in the end.’’ Dr Holly Thorpe, Waikato University professor of sociology of sport ‘‘Some women with addictions to exercise and disordered eating practices can experience pride, joy and even pleasure from their highly disciplined practices.’’ Holly Thorpe
positions require different body types, and as long as an athlete is strong, fast and can do her job on the field, then any body type should be celebrated.’’
Female runners also experience body-image pressures from themselves, coaches, parents, peers, social media, and other media. ‘‘Often, however, an athlete may feel as though these pressures come from everywhere, so it’s hard to know exactly where to identify the source.
‘‘With all of these pressures from society and the sporting culture being internalised by the individual, a very complex relationship can develop between highly disciplined training and nutrition regimes.’’
It can often be about gaining or regaining control over their body or life via their training and using very calculating and restricted nutritional practices, which is where the fitness data technologies come in, Thorpe says.
‘‘Some women with addictions to exercise and disordered eating practices can experience pride, joy and even pleasure from their highly disciplined practices.’’
At the same time, an athlete can experience strong feelings of guilt, remorse or fears of getting fat or losing fitness, if they are unable to train or eat ‘too much’ on any given day.
Thorpe says the stigma and silencing of the matter in the running industry must change.
Flanagan has said one reason she hadn’t spoken out earlier about her addictions, was because these matters were hushed in running circles.
Her coach Maria Hassan, who is also an Athletics New Zealand head coach, says while disorders and addictions should be spoken about, there were often barriers to frank discussion..
‘‘Many coaches find it very hard or challenging to address these sensitive issues, particularly the delayed puberty and menstruation, and are maybe unaware of the effect menstrual dysfunction has on bone health, and in the past there has not been a lot of education in this area.’’
Elite athletes usually know better than to starve their bodies, it was developing athletes who are more at risk, she says.
‘‘We all need to be more aware of the issues and provide consistently good advice.’’