Spring Forward: Empowering Female Athletes With Healthy Habits and Positive Body Image

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Highlights:

• The book "Spring Forward" highlights the pervasive issue of disordered eating and poor body image in female sports, exacerbated by social media and unrealistic beauty standards
• The book offers solutions, such as promoting healthy eating habits and exercise to counteract unrealistic expectations, as well as an education program called SPRING to improve body image flexibility
• The authors' research shows that SPRING has resulted in a significant increase in body image flexibility among female athletes, particularly cheerleaders in Colorado schools

Experts believe that female athletes who believe they must achieve the "ideal" figure may develop eating disorders as a result of social media.

Nutrition fallacies promoted by fitness influencers, exercise-related 'fitspiration' photographs on Instagram, and photoshopping, according to Dr. Kathryn Vidlock and Catherine Liggett, both collegiate athletes and dietician Andrew Dole, are having a direct impact on athletes.

Spring Forward: Balanced Eating, Exercise, and Body Image in Sport for Female Athletes

This new book emphasizes how disordered eating and bad body image are now ubiquitous in almost all sports, especially in high school, but are typically hidden.

‘New book "Spring Forward" advocates for balanced eating, exercise, and positive body image in sports for female athletes, featuring experiences from nearly a dozen athletes and an education program to identify at-risk individuals early. #springforward #femaleathletes #bodyimage’

"False information is often perpetuated on social media by �fitness influencers' who are not qualified to give health information," say the authors who are based in the U.S. and New Zealand. "With the creation of Photoshop and other editing devices, the images portrayed by media are not realistic. Many teens cannot achieve this body type without using damaging restrictive eating. They feel the pressure to look ideal and subsequently, they feel they are never good enough when they do not duplicate the unrealistic bodies seen in the media."

Female Athletes Under Pressure to Maintain the 'Perfect' Physique

Top female competitors, including tennis champion Serena Williams, have spoken out about the significant pressure to maintain the 'perfect' physique. Earlier this year, heptathlete Anna Hall took to TikTok to criticize those who say female athletes look like guys.

Spring Forward, published by CRC Press, features experiences from almost a dozen female athletes about how the push to be thin caused their battles with poor body image.

The women included in the book, ranging from swimmers to tennis players, recount horrifying incidents such as running 5 miles as self-punishment for eating a cookie, collapsing in the gym after 24 hours without food, and dieting extensively in response to criticism over her 'butt cheeks.'

One volleyball player even lost a teammate - the team's star player' - to anorexia after the girl had a heart attack caused by the eating illness.

Body Type Expectations in Sports and the Negative Impact on Women's Self-Image

Dr. Kathryn Vidlock and her co-authors emphasize how the situation is exacerbated by the fact that many sports have body type expectations. They claim that runners are assumed to be very slim, however, some elite runners have muscular legs that appear larger than the stereotype. As a result, women are frequently subjected to "derogatory remarks."

Spring Forward: Promoting Healthy Eating Habits and Positive Body Image in Women's Sports

Spring Forward fosters higher-quality performance in women's sports through healthy food and exercise to counteract unreasonable expectations. The goal is to teach teenage and female athletes, as well as sports coaches and clubs, about body confidence.

According to the authors, this will safeguard children against unhealthy eating and fad diets like ketogenic, as well as other self-destructive behaviors in an attempt to fulfill unattainable expectations. It includes detailed instruction manuals on positive eating plans, the repercussions of disordered eating, such as not menstruating, and how parents can recognize warning signs.

SPRING: An Education Program for Improving Body Image Flexibility in Schools and Colleges

The writers have also created an education program for high schools called SPRING (Strength and Positivity Rooted in Nutrition for Girls), which is mentioned in the book. They are advocating for programs like SPRING to be offered in schools, colleges, and among adults to identify women at risk early.

SPRING aims to improve body image 'flexibility,' which the authors define as the ability to be confident in one's own body regardless of size or shape. It consists of three one-hour sessions spread out throughout the athlete's season.

According to data from the authors' research, SPRING has resulted in an increase of more than 22% in body image flexibility among cheerleaders in Colorado schools.

Source: Medindia

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