The NCAA News - News and Features

October 27, 1997

Sports Sciences Newletter -- National Eating Disorders Screening Program set to hit college campuses in late February

By Nancy Deutsch
NATIONAL EATING DISORDERS SCREENING PROGRAM

Collegiate athletic trainers and coaches are invited to join colleges, high schools, hospitals and treatment centers across the country in the second National Eating Disorders Screening Program (NEDSP), February 23-28. By working with their campus health or counseling centers to offer this public outreach and education program to their campuses, coaches will be helping collegiate athletes and other students who have eating disorders take the important first steps in getting help.

We especially encourage coaches and athletic trainers to participate in NEDSP because of the risk that some athletes face of developing such a condition in response to anxieties about body size, weight and performance. A 1997 study of NCAA student-athletes at 10 schools in 11 sports done by Johnson and Powers revealed some disturbing statistics about college student-athletes and their eating/dieting behaviors. Binge eating was found to occur at least weekly in 13 percent of male student-athletes and 10 percent of female student-athletes. More than 25 percent of males used saunas or steam baths to lose weight at least weekly and 4.4 percent of females vomited for weight loss.

NEDSP seeks not only to help those student-athletes and other students who already may be practicing dangerous eating or weight-control behaviors, but to call attention to the severe medical and psychological effects of these behaviors and to prevent other individuals from developing eating disorders. The program is focused mainly on the college-age population, a group particularly at risk, and includes information geared toward athletes and coaches.

Screenings are conducted by local clinicians with materials provided by the NEDSP office. Materials include: 1) a special version of the EAT-26 screening tool; 2) a procedure manual including instructions and ideas from last year's sites for ways to attract participants; and 3) educational and promotional materials including a video, short narratives on eating disorders and related topics, brochures and posters. The program is anonymous and free to the public.

Collegiate coaches and athletic trainers can participate in this event by working with their campus health or counseling centers. They can assist with NEDSP by offering their expertise regarding student-athletes and eating disorders, planning educational sessions for their fellow coaches, helping promote the program on campus, and encouraging team members to attend screenings.

In its first year, NEDSP took place at more than 600 sites, primarily college campuses. Sites reported that the screenings were a successful tool for motivating individuals to get treatment and for raising the level of awareness. Many student-athletes participated in the program individually or as part of a team. By attending screenings as a team, student-athletes can help reduce the stigma of eating disorders and ensure that individuals who have them do not feel singled out.

NEDSP has a Scientific Advisory Board that includes some of the top experts in the field of eating disorders. In addition to the NCAA, sponsors include numerous mental-health and eating-disorder advocacy groups, athletics associations and college-health, athletics and pan-Hellenic organizations.

Sponsors include: Academy for Eating Disorders, American College Health Association, American College of Sports Medicine, Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches for Women, National Institute of Mental Health, National pan-Hellenic Conference and USA Gymnastics, among others.

NEDSP is made possible by a grant from the McKnight Foundation with additional funding from Remuda Ranch, a specialized treatment center in Arizona for women and adolescent girls.

If you would like to get involved, be sure your health or counseling center is registered for the program. Contact NEDSP at One Washington St., Suite 304, Wellesley Hills, MA 02181-1706, phone: 781/239-0071; fax: 781/431-7447 for registration materials.

Staff note: The NCAA informally assisted in this program in 1996 through awareness efforts. The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports recommended that the Association become a full sponsor in 1998, since this program is consistent with NCAA efforts in the area of eating disorders. Athletics directors and student-athlete advisory committees will be receiving more information on this program from the NCAA in early November.