Coaches: How to prevent eating disorders in your athletes

Due to the pressure to be the best, meet a certain weight or achieve a certain level of body fat, athletes are at an increased risk of developing eating disorders. Whether or not an eating disorder develops is dependent on many things. However, a coach often plays a leading role in this process: in a way that can either encourage or discourage an eating disorder. Are you a coach concerned about creating a culture of restrictive eating and unsafe dieting practices? Being aware of this potential is an important first step. Here are some tips to prevent eating disorders in the athletes you work with every day.

1. First it is important to recognize that eating disorder behaviors are serious. The leading causes of death for people with eating disorders are cardiac arrest and suicide, so observing unsafe behaviors is not something to be ignored.