3 Signs of Eating Disorders in Teen Athletes: A Guide for Parents

As a parent, I’m sure you want your child to have hobbies or interests. Something that they can enjoy doing outside of school work. For many kids, this hobby is sports. Sports provide so many positive benefits to teens; they learn teamwork, perseverance, time management, and how to handle adversity, just to name a few. When you have a teen athlete, it is also important to be on the look out for signs of eating disorders and disordered eating. Just because your teen is an athlete, does not mean they are immune to developing an eating disorder. Teen athletes live in a world that praises discipline, endurance, and performance. But behind that drive can sometimes be another story; one where restrictive eating, overtraining, or body comparison are mistaken for dedication. In competitive sports environments, eating disorders can hide in plain sight. And because most conversations about athlete health still focus on weight rather than wellbeing, early warning signs are often missed. This is especially true when a teen “looks healthy” or is performing well. In this blog we will talk about 3 commonly missed signs of eating disorders in teen athletes so that you can learn how to recognize eating disorders in your teen athlete.

Why A Weight-Focused Approach Misses the Mark

In traditional sports culture, body weight is often tied to perceived athletic success: runners are told to be leaner, gymnasts are praised for lightness, football players are told to be muscular, wrestlers are sorted by weight class. This environment can normalize disordered eating long before it’s recognized as a problem.

While eating disorders are common in these sports, we must remember that eating disorders can affect athletes of any body size, gender, or sport. A teen doesn’t need to look “underweight” to be struggling, and focusing on just appearance or performance often delays support. Rather than focusing on the way your teen looks to determine their health, we want to shift the focus to how they feel, what behaviors are you noticing, has their attitude or demeanor changed, etc.

Here are some signs that a teen athlete might be struggling with disordered eating or body image concerns — even if their performance seems strong:

1. Changes in Eating Patterns

Changes in eating patterns can be a sign of an eating disorder in athletes. When an athlete changes their eating habits, it’s often looked at as a positive thing. They might be praised for “prioritizing their health” or being “dedicated”. What we often don’t see with these seemingly positive changes is the true reason behind making them, or the anxiety that is fueling the changes. Teens often think that they need to eat less or eat “healthier” in order to be better at their sport. Or maybe they were shamed for their body size by a teammate or coach. What they don’t recognize is that eating less means less energy for their body to use to engage in their sport. This can lead to increase in fatigue as well as increase in injury risk, not to mention a decrease in performance. 

If you notice your teen avoiding team meals or social outings involving food, cutting out foods or food groups that they were eating regularly, having increased anxiety around food choices or portions, or noticing extreme preoccupation around being “healthy”, these are not things to praise and definitely not things to ignore. Get curious. Ask your teen where these emotions or behaviors are coming from, and do not judge them when they give you their answer. If you continue to be concerned, talk to their doctor or therapist. And ask for a referral to an eating disorder dietitian.

2. Changes in Training Behavior

Changes in training behavior can be a sign of an eating disorder in athletes. Training is an important part of being an athlete and plays an imperative role in improving performance. However, training that is not done appropriately and with the correct nutrition can lead to the opposite effect. If you notice your child skipping meals before practices/games, training extra hours outside of team sanctioned workouts, getting injured frequently or having injuries that are not healing, experiencing distress or guilt on rest days, or showing performance detriments despite the hard work they seem to be putting in, these could be signs that your child is underfueled or has a disordered relationship with exercise. Training is a reward for proper fueling, and if we are not fueling properly for the training we are doing, it is going to come back to bite us. If you are unsure if you are fueling enough or properly, a meeting with an eating disorder dietitian or sports dietitian could be a helpful place to start.

3. Physical and Emotional Changes

Another sign of an eating disorder in athletes are physical and emotional changes. Outside of behavior changes, disordered eating behaviors can lead to physical and emotional side effects as well. Common physical signs of an eating disorder or underfueling include but are not limited to fatigue, noticeable weight loss, dizziness, headaches, difficulty sleeping, loss of menstrual cycle (in menstruating teens), hair thinning or hair loss, and GI distress. Emotional signs include increased irritability, isolating from friends, family and teammates, anxiety, low self esteem, or lack of interest in activities that they once enjoyed. It is important to check in on your teen if you notice any of these changes, and to follow up with their doctor as soon as possible. 

In our weight centric society, a teen might even be praised for some of these behaviors listed above as it might look like they’re “getting leaner” or “working harder”  but those compliments can reinforce disordered behaviors. A weight inclusive approach recognizes that these same signs may point to under-fueling, burnout, or an eating disorderl, not discipline or motivation.

How to flip the script

As a provider working under a weight inclusive framework, we don’t ignore performance goals, we simply widen the definition of health to look at the teen as a whole person and an individual, not just a number on the scale or their stats in their sport. We do this by looking at the big picture; asking about their activity, sleep, eating habits, mood and energy levels rather than their weight, to ensure they are eating enough, not just for sport but for their day to day life. We shift the focus to how they feel, physically and emotionally, rather than what they look like. We encourage rest and educate on how this actually improves performance, and is not laziness, or taking the easy way out. We collaborate with other members of your teens care team to ensure we are getting the whole picture of their health. We want the teen athlete to succeed and perform well, but we will not sacrifice their overall health and well being to do that.

Final Thoughts: Performance Without Punishment

Warning Signs of Eating disorders in teen athletes often go unnoticed because our culture confuses restriction with discipline and pain with progress. But through a weight inclusive lense we can see the truth more clearly; Healthy athletes are not necessarily the leanest, but the ones who feel safe, nourished, and supported in their bodies. When we take weight out of the equation, we make room for variety, joy, and sustainable performance. If you are concerned about your teen after reading this blog, please reach out to us at Courage to Nourish to get an assessment and see what the best next steps are to support your teen athlete.

Contact Us

Courage to Nourish is a group of eating disorder specialized dietitians. We have in person locations in Alexandria, Virginia, Columbia, Maryland. and College Park, Maryland. We offer virtual services across the state of Virginia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and Colorado and Georgia. We offer individual nutrition therapy. As well as support groups.