The number of females participating in competitive and recreational sports has reached 55 million in America. Increased participation and monetary incentives for successful participation (college scholarships and professional sports) has resulted in unhealthy behaviors to excel. Consequently, the medical field is diagnosing medical illnesses resulting from these behaviors.

The female athlete triad was first recognized as a health issue in 1992 by the American College of Sports Medicine. The triad includes amenorrhea, disordered eating, and osteoporosis.

• Amenorrhea is the absence of menstrual periods for three consecutive months or failure of a young woman to initiate menses by age 16.
• Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become thin, weak, and easy to fracture.
• Disordered eating includes a spectrum from restrictive dietary intake to clinically defined eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia nervosa). The incidence of clinical eating disorders among all young women is 3%. However, estimates of disordered eating in female athletes range from 15-62%.

Any component alone can significantly decrease performance and cause health problems such as nutritional deficiencies, stress fractures, depression, infertility, impaired immunity, and gastrointestinal problems. In the worst-case scenario, the female athlete triad can be fatal.

"The female athlete triad often arises because of an immense pressure to maintain an ideal body weight." said Teri Metcalf McCambridge, M.D., Director of The Women's Sports Center. "Certain sports, such as lightweight crew, ballet, gymnastics, cross-country, and figure skating, show a higher incidence of affliction. In some individuals, this ideal body type is unattainable without detrimental health consequences."

Education is an important tool in preventing the female athlete triad. Coaches, athletic trainers, and other medical professionals should be educated in both early recognition of the signs and symptoms and treatment of the female athlete triad. For more information about the female athlete triad call 410.337.5311.