One in five female distance runners has an eating disorder and many more have some type of unhealthy relationship with food and their body. In sports where leanness and lightness are encouraged to maximize performance, eating disorders are not uncommon and are sometimes deadly.

Today, I spoke with guests Lauren Fleshman and Lize Brittin on the WomenTalkSports.com Radio Show about this issue: how it starts, who is at risk, how to deal with it and how to prevent it.
 

Lauren Fleshman is a decorated distance runner with three NCAA 5000m Championships and two USA 5000m Championships to her name, not to mention a sub-15 minute personal best. She has reached out to young runners offering her help as a mentor, using her website, AskLaurenFleshman.com, as a vehicle to drive open dialogue. Fleshman herself never fell victim to an eating disorder, but she did "walk near the cliff" and witnessed friends and teammates struggle and saw the effect it had on themselves and those around them.

Lize Brittin was a multiple-time state champion in high school in Colorado. She placed 7th at the Kinney (now Footlocker) National Championships as a senior and at age 16 placed 9th at the prestigious Bolder Boulder 10K. Unfortunately her running career was cut short as she struggled with anorexia and nearly perished before climbing herself out of the large dark hole she had been burying herself in. Brittin discusses the triggers in her life as well as ways we can help women and girls struggling with eating disorders themselves, or even prevent them altogether. She has written a manuscript on this topic and keeps a blog at trainingonempty.blogspot.com

Please encourage those you know who are struggling with an eating disorder to seek medical attention not just from a physician but from a sports psychologist as well, as this is a very complicated issue, as we discuss on the show.

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Ann Gaffigan is Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer of WomenTalkSports,com, a network dedicated to covering women's sports. She is also a former pro steeplechaser and current track fanatic. Follow her on Twitter at @anngaff.