More and more male athletes are developing unhealthy eating behaviors after seeing the competitive advantage a leaner physique can bring, a sports medicine doctor warns in a new report.
Recent deaths among wrestlers have raised awareness of eating disorders and their potentially deadly consequences among male athletes, but Dr. James L. Glazer told Reuters Health he's increasingly seeing problematic eating behavior among men engaged in other sports at the recreational level, such as cyclists, triathletes and Nordic skiers.
Eventually, Glazer noted, a man may lose so much weight that his performance starts to suffer. Seeing this change for the worse may be enough to convince him to change his habits for the better, he added.
"Many men can turn things around just with a little bit of increased awareness about nutrition and healthy weight," Glazer said.
