THE past couple of years have seen an increase in awareness from sporting governing bodies about their duty of care to their athletes and in keeping with this, Scottish Athletics has announced an education seminar, Supporting Athletes with an Eating Disorder, for January 12 in Edinburgh.
Earlier this year, former high jumper Jayne Nisbet, right, revealed she had suffered from eating disorders throughout her career, before going on to release a book, Free-ed, about her experiences. Nisbet will be one of the speakers at the seminar where she will talk about her the issue, as well as sharing what she has learned from its challenges and her recovery.
Also present will be Louise Capicotto, a sports psychologist from Loughborough University who has conducted research into the support for athletes with eating disorders and has personal experience of the issue from her time as an athlete in track and field and power-lifting.
Elite sport is a cut-throat environment and the incidence of eating disorders is significantly higher amongst athletes than the general population. This Scottish Athletics seminar is open to athletes, coaches and parents, who often can have a major role to play in halting the progress of an eating disorder.
There will be a number of topics covered, including recognising the signs and communicating with the athlete; raising awareness of eating disorders; availability of support for parents, coaches and athletes – including current treatment issues for athletes, and how they could be better supported when returning to sport.
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