|
Female
college
athletes on
low-calorie
diets could
be putting
themselves
at risk for
stress
fractures,
according to
new Saint
Louis
University
research
published
recently in
The American
Journal of
Sports
Medicine.
 Researchers
studied risk
factors for
exercise-related
leg pain,
including
stress
fractures in
women
participating
in four
popular fall
sports:
cross-country
running,
field
hockey,
soccer and
volleyball.
Women with
"disordered
eating,"
which
includes
eating
disorders
such as
bulimia and
anorexia but
more
generally
refers to
insufficient
caloric
intake, were
more likely
to develop
stress
fractures as
a result of
decreased
estrogen
production,
says
researcher
Mark
Reinking,
PT, Ph.D.,
chairman of
the
department
of physical
therapy at
Saint Louis
University's
Doisy
College of
Health
Sciences.
"When people
expend more
calories
than they
consume,
they release
fewer
hormones,
which slows
down
menstrual
cycles. This
decreases
estrogen in
the body,
which is
responsible
for bone
development,"
says
Reinking,
also
chairman of
the American
Board of
Physical
Therapy
Specialties.
“Leg pain is
one of the
most common
problems
afflicting
athletes,”
Reinking
says. "It
causes
people to
miss
practices
and
competitions.
I wanted to
understand
why, if two
people were
undergoing
the same
exercise
regime, only
one of them
would have
leg pain.
It’s not as
simple as
'run less'
or 'change
your shoes
every 300
miles.' It's
a complex
problem, and
you can't
prevent
something if
you don't
know what
causes it."
Risk factors
for
exercise-related
leg pain
were a prior
history of
the
condition,
disordered
eating and
excessive
pronation (a
rolling
inwards) of
the foot.
"Exercise-related
leg pain is
often
described as
common in
athletes,
but this is
only the
second study
of its kind
to
quantitatively
describe the
condition
and identify
the risk
factors for
it,"
Reinking
says. "The
history and
incidence
data from
this study
support the
notion that
leg pain is
common among
female
athletes."
Exercise-related
leg pain is
a term used
to describe
lower
extremity
overuse
conditions
in which
pain is felt
below the
knee and
above the
ankle bone
and is
associated
with
exercise.
Although it
is often
thought to
be related
to external
factors such
as training
volume,
playing/training
surface or
footwear,
there is
little
scientific
evidence to
support
these
elements as
risk factors
for leg
pain.
Rather,
internal
factors such
as excessive
foot
pronation,
menstrual
function and
bone mineral
density have
been found
to be
associated
with this
condition.
Reinking
studied 76
female
college
athletes
playing one
of four fall
sports at a
Midwestern
NCAA
Division I
school (29
soccer, 18
field
hockey, 18
cross-country
and 11
volleyball
athletes).
Data were
collected on
the
athletes’
eating
behaviors,
years in
school
sports,
menstrual
history,
bone mineral
density,
body mass
index,
incidence of
prior leg
pain, and
the degree
of foot
pronation.
Three-quarters
of the
female
athletes
reported a
history of
leg pain,
with
cross-country
runners
having the
highest
percentage
(94.4
percent) and
soccer
players the
lowest (55.2
percent).
All athletes
were then
monitored
for leg pain
during one
intercollegiate
sports
season. Of
the 76
athletes,
26.3 percent
experienced
leg pain
during the
season, all
of whom had
reported
prior leg
pain.
Athletes who
developed
stress
fractures
had more
abnormal
scores on
the eating
behavior
questionnaire
and also
showed
decreased
bone mineral
density,
findings
suggestive
of
disordered
eating,
which is an
umbrella
term for
common
eating
disorders as
well as any
other
nutritional
deficiency.
The type of
sport played
was not
correlated
with high
scores on
the eating
behaviors
survey.
Source:
Saint Louis
University -
Rachel Otto
|
