A STUDY EVALUATING THE RISK OF FEMALE ATHLETE TRIAD AMONG BASKETBALL PLAYER a research Paper Presented By Shweta Prajapati (M.P.Ed) Department of Physical Education A.M.U, Aligarh

INTRODUCTION In 1997, the term FEMALE ATHLETE TRIAD was coined by THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SPORT MEDICINE (ACSM) as a spectrum of symptoms and conditions between health and diseases. Female athlete triad is a condition seen in athletic girls and women that includes Disordered Eating, Menstrual Dysfunction, and Osteoporosis.

COMPONENTS OF FEMALE ATHLETE TRIAD

MENSTRUAL DYSFUNCTION DISORDERED EATING Disordered eating defined as the use of any unhealthy method to control weight. MENSTRUAL DYSFUNCTION Menstrual dysfunction is an abnormal condition in a woman's menstrual cycle. OSTEOPOROSIS Disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bones tissue, resulting in bone fragility and increased risk of fracture.

METHODOLOGY Female athletes at risk for the Triad can be identified via a screening questionnaire. This questionnaire has been compiled by a working group of the Female Athlete Triad Coalition including: Dr. Margo Mountjoy (chair), Dr. Mark Hutchinson, Dr. Laura Cruz, Dr. Connie Lebrun.

METHODOLOGY(cont...) Eighty (80) female basketball players (Demographic age 17-25 years, Training age 4-10 years) were randomly selected from North Zone Basketball Intervarsity at Jamia Humdard, New Delhi, India. They gave their informed consent to serve as subjects in the study. The questionnaire was given and explained to the participants.

DATA ANALYSIS Frequencies of the responses (yes/ no) were drawn separately and percentage (%) was recorded accordingly. Follow table shows the %age of Yes and No responses by the Basketball Players for the Female Athlete Triad Questionnaire. STATEMENT YES %age NO %age Do you worry about your weight or body composition ? 68.75 31.25 Do you limit or carefully control the foods that you eat? 43.75 56.25 Do you try to lose weight to meet weight or image/appearance requirements in your sport? Does your weight affect the way you feel about yourself? Do you worry that you have lost control over how much you eat? 30.00 70.00 Do you make yourself vomit, use diuretics or laxatives after you eat? 11.25 88.75 Do you currently or have you ever suffered from an eating disorder? 20.00 80.00 Do you ever eat in secret? 36.25 63.75 Do you have monthly menstrual cycles? Have you ever had a stress fracture?

Graph showing the Yes % : No % Ratio

RESULTS Out of 80 respondents 68.75% agree that they do not worry about their weight or body composition and rest of 31.25% of the respondents disagree for the same. 43.75% of the respondents limit or carefully control their foods that they eat, while 56.25% of the respondents do not think it is necessary. 43.75% of the respondents agree that they lose weight to meet weight or image/appearance requirements for their sport, while 56.25% of the subjects disagree for the same

RESULTS(cont...) 31.25% of the subjects agree that their weight affects the way they feel about themselves and rest of the 68.75% of the players disagree with it. 30% of the respondents worry that they have lost control over how much they eat, while as 70% of the respondents do not worry for the same. Out of 80 respondents 11.25% agree that they make themselves vomit, use diuretics or laxatives after they eat and rest of 88.75% of the respondents disagree for it.

RESULTS(cont...) 20% of the subjects have suffered from eating disorders and 80% of subjects have never suffered anything like that. 36.25% of female participants agree that they eat in secret, while as 63.75% of them have not developed this habit. Out of 80 subjects 88.75% have normal monthly menstrual cycles and 11.25% of the subjects have abnormal cycles. 20% of the respondents have got stress fracture while as 80% of them had never undergone it.

RESULTS(cont...) The average age of the first menstrual period was found 12.87 years that is normal to the Indian females. The average number of menstrual cycles in a year was found 12 that is normal for a female to have 12 cycles in 12 months.

DISCUSSION The majority of the respondents are satisfied with their physique, careful and limited food habit is not a concern to them, do not indulge in weight loss and appearance related procedures, don’t have any bad affects on their approach by their weight, do not have lost control over eating. Female athletes who are concerned with controlling their body weight and body composition are at an increased risk for developing an eating disorder. These athletes may increase their training regimes and prolong dieting routines which adds to the risk of an eating disorder (Byrne & McLean, 2001).

DISCUSSION(Cont…) They do not use diuretics or laxatives and do not vomit after they eat, eating disorder is not a concern for players, secret eating is not common among female players, have normal monthly menstrual cycles. The average age of the first menstrual period was found normal, and the number of menstrual cycles in a year was found normal too. According to research, amenorrhea (menstrual dysfunction) develops in female athletes due to effects of weight loss, lowered body fat, increased activity, and insufficient caloric intake (Vinci, 1999).

DISCUSSION(Cont…) They have not undergone any kind of stress fracture. Premature bone loss may result in low bone mineral density, increased skeletal fragility, micro architectural deterioration, and an increased risk of stress fractures (Beals, et al, 1999). Females in particular are at risk for more devastating fractures of the hip and vertebral column due to premature osteoporosis (Hobart & Smucker, 2000). This becomes a problem for young female athletes who should be forming bone at this point in their lives.

CONCLUSION The female athlete triad is a complex syndrome that impacts the physical and psychological well being of the athlete. The triad usually begins with a disturbance in energy balance and progresses to other imbalances, including menstrual and osteoporosis disturbances. The study concludes that there is no prevalence of female athlete triad among North Zone Basketball Players. Although a few minor complications were present in a few players but those were not of any great worry.

RECOMMENDATION Education and Prevention are the keys in combating any kind of problem, so is the case with Female Athletic Triad. Exercise is an important factor for a healthy life. Therefore, it is necessary to help keep the “active” safe from the dangers associated with over-training. Education is the key to prevention, and the message needs to be received by athletes, trainers, coaches, administrators, and all involved in an athlete's career. Studies related to such health issues among sports persons should be conducted on large scale in future.

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