Tag Archive for 'alimentazione'

Eating disorder in high performance sport

Wells KR, Jeacocke NA, Appaneal R, et al. The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) position statement on disordered eating in high performance sport. Br J Sports Med 2020; 54:1247–1258.

DE in athletes can occur at any time; both precipitating, or being precipitated by, challenges in the athlete’s life as well as occurring during a time of successful performance. While there is a growing openness and support for mental health concerns in elite sport,16 barriers to early identification and treatment of DE and EDs still exist.

Athletes’ shame, stigma and fear of discrimination prevent them from disclosing problematic behaviour and seeking help, whereas limited knowledge about ED symptoms and reluctance to ask specifically about eating problems inhibit providers’ detection of DE and EDs.20 It is widely accepted that the early identification and appropriate management of DE leads to better outcomes. EDs have one of the highest mortality rates among all mental illnesses, which underscores the importance of prevention efforts, timely detection and specialised treatment.

Everyone in the sport system has a role to play in recognition and early intervention, and anyone can refer athletes to, and/ or consult with, any member of the CMT (doctor, sports dieti- tian and psychologist) for further assessment and support.11 It is important for all personnel involved in the sport to be aware of the risk factors and warning signs or red flags of DE and EDs (tables 2 and 3). Personnel should also be informed of effective communication channels for concerns. Some warning signs (table 3) can occur early (behavioural changes) whereas others such as weight changes may occur later in the person’s trajectory of DE.

New fields of mental coaching

The mental aspect of sport is not only related on technical or tactical training. This aspect is only part although important. I would say that the first aspect of the mental coaching concerns the implementation of the daily life of an athlete, and then his/her daily lifestyle. Nutrition, sleep, friends and family are significant aspects of the success. In many sports, for example, weight control is an essential aspect  of the performance and live in a conscious and positive these aspects increases the athlete well-being. Research conducted by the United States Olympic Committee found that family and friends are needed for success as they provide economic support, encouragement and emotional stability. The second aspect refers to the mental component of fitness. Feeling fit and ready to face any situation of their athletic performance is an essential part of self-confidence and viceversa. In fact, the motivation and the mental capacity to resist effectively to physical fatigue and exercise intensity promote the quality of the training sessions. Moreover, in many sports you should develop abilities not depending of other technical skills and who are however crucial to determine the result. I think the serve in volleyball and tennis, free throws in basketball, penalties in football, kicks in rugby, start in motor sports or sailing. These situations need to be trained mentally with accuracy.

USA 1 obeso 3

La più recente indagine sullo stato di salute degli americani, apparsa sul Journal of the American Medical Association, ha rilevato che 1 su 3 è obeso o sovrappeso e e la proporzione fra i giovani è di 1 su 6. Non è aumentata negli ultimi 12 anni ma resta un problema piuttosto grave. In particolare il 35,7% della popolazione è obesa e lo è il 16,9% dei giovani sino a 19 anni. Neri e bianchi se maschi hanno circa la stessa percentuale, 38.8% i primi e 36,2 i secondi. Netta è invece la differenza a favore delle donne bianche (32.2%) rispetto alle donne nere (58.5%). Inutile ripetere quanto questa condizione sia dannosa per il benessere delle persone e come l’unica politica sia quella di aumentare l’attività fisica e ridurre drasticamente cibi e bevande ipercaloriche. Cerchiamo di non imitarli, perchè siamo da tempo su questa strada.