In addition to the checklists endorsed by the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards (see pages A-2 and A-3), there are several steps athletics administrators can take to help with body image issues.

Tell coaches that they are to remove the emphasis on being thin and losing weight. "A former athletics director here (at Indiana University, Bloomington) told coaches that they could not tell the athletes to lose weight, nor could they make any comments about their weight," Thompson said. "It actually makes the coaches' job easier. I also tell coaches that if they want an athlete to perform well, make sure she is healthy and happy. People with eating disorders are neither."

Educate coaches on eating disorders, nutrition and body image issues. Thompson and his team have had the greatest success meeting with one or two head coaches and their assistants at a time.

Instruct coaches to consider body image problems posed by tight-fitting uniforms. "When you're forced to wear tight-fitting shorts like some volleyball players are, you feel like all eyes are on you," said Dewayne Barnes, vice-chair of the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and current graduate athletic trainer at Whittier College. "If student-athletes are allowed to wear more loose-fitting shorts, they could worry more about playing the sport than about how they look."

If you don't already have one, compose an interdisciplinary team to deal with student-athletes' eating disorders, nutrition, body image and disordered eating. Be sure to involve the athletic training staff. "Athletic trainers can really make a huge difference here," Thompson said. "Their focus is not on performance but on health."

Set up treatment programs that involve the coach, the athlete and the trainer. "If you involve everyone and keep them informed, you will have much greater success," Thompson said. "And the trainer may have a better idea than the doctor or dietician what is reasonable for the student-athlete to do."

Offer education to all student-athletes, not just the women and not just those identified with eating disorders, on proper nutrition. The CHAMPS/Life skills program is a logical place for such education to occur.

Offer education for graduating student-athletes on how to adjust their eating once their playing days are over. "Student-athletes who have been part of training tables or dorm meal plans may not know how to cook for themselves or even how to prepare nutritious food," Barnes said. "And, they need to be educated about the changes in their body that will take place once they are no longer playing."

-- Kay Hawes