The recent developments surrounding the firing of Oakland University women’s basketball coach, Beckie Francis, highlight the immense influence coaches have on their athletes and underscore the importance of eating disorders awareness in the athletic community. In case you missed the story, the allegations against Francis include reports that she was emotionally abusive and fixated on the player’s weight, going to such lengths as taking before and after pictures of players in their sports bras and spandex and encouraging them to adopt unhealthy behaviors to lose weight. This fixation continued to the point that several team members developed eating disorders.
The reports coming out of Oakland University are disturbing but unfortunately, they are not uncommon. A study of Division 1 NCAA athletes found that more than one-third of female athletes reported attitudes and symptoms placing them at risk for anorexia nervosa.
The benefits of participating in sports, such as increased self-esteem and learning the value of teamwork, are well known, but without proper supervision and positive guidance, athletic competition can cause severe psychological and physical stress, which, when combined with unrealistic cultural ideals of thinness, can increase the risk for distorted body image and disordered eating—essential precursors to eating disorders.
The good news is that when coaches and athletic trainers are properly informed, they are in a unique position to promote healthy attitudes and to detect the early warning signs of an eating disorder.
Early warning signs of an eating disorder specific to an athletic setting can include:
- Decreased concentration, energy, muscle function, coordination, speed
- More frequent muscle strains, sprains, and/or fractures
- Complaints of light-headedness and dizziness, abdominal pain
- Perfectionism
- Increased impatience, crankiness, isolation
- Avoidance of water or excessive water intake
- Preoccupation with one’s own food and/or with other people’s food
- Prolonged or additional training above and beyond that required for the sport (e.g. extra sit-ups and laps, extra workouts)
For more warning signs and information on how to help coaches be the best they can be, refer to NEDA’s Coaches and Trainers Toolkit, which was specially developed to address the prevalence of eating disorders in athletes. NEDA wishes the best for the Oakland University women’s basketball team and hopes that this kind of dangerous fixation on weight can be avoided at other schools.
