Bone-thin dancers, gymnasts and figure skaters hurt their health, says physician who is trying to change women's attitudes
Bony ballerina be damned. Want a sexy female athlete, look no further than Gabrielle Reece.
The 6-foot-3-inch muscular professional beach volleyball player and fashion model is the type of athlete Dr. Doreen L. Wiggins wants young women to embrace as beautiful and choose as their role model in sports.
It is not a strange thought for Wiggins, a physician at Women and Infants Hospital, who knows that one of the biggest threats to the health of women athletes stems from the desire to achieve a specific body image.
Eating disorders are more prevalent among women athletes than the general population as they try to whittle their bodies to a weight that is often unreasonable, said Wiggins, a clinical assistant professor and Medical School alumna.
Studies show that between 16 and 72 percent of female athletes suffer eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, while that number is 5 to 10 percent in the general population. Being bone-thin seems to be considered an inherent part of the aesthetic beauty of such sports as ballet, gymnastics, figure skating and distance running, explains Wiggins.
"I'd like to see being athletic for women as being sexy," said Wiggins. "Men's image has always been tied into being strong and athletic, but women still have the image that they need to be fragile."
How do we change that way of thinking? "That's hard," she admits. Yet Wiggins is trying.
One way is by writing. Wiggins, an obstetrician and gynecologist, and her husband, Michael E. Wiggins, an orthopedic and sports medicine specialist, recently wrote a chapter on the specific medical concerns of the female athlete for the October issue of the medical publication Clinics in Sports Medicine.
Besides eating disorders, the chapter includes information on amenorrhea, or disruption of the menstrual cycle, and osteoporosis, or low bone mass. The three conditions are often linked to female athletes because osteoporosis can result from poor nutrition and inadequate calcium intake typical of eating disorders, and lack of estrogen which is the result of amenorrhea. By the same token, low body weight, low body fat and poor nutrition have also been seen in amenorrheic women.
By publishing information about the special needs of the female athlete in the medical journal, the husband-and-wife team hope doctors will use it to better identify and treat female athletes. For example, when a woman approaches her doctor about repeated stress fractures, medical care should include questions about her menstrual cycle, Wiggins said.
"If a woman comes into your office, you need to be thinking about these things," said Wiggins. "I think it's a disservice as a physician if you don't look at the whole person."
In addition to writing, Wiggins also does public speaking in her effort to change ideas about women athletes.
She is scheduled to speak about eating disorders at a conference on "Advancing Young Women in Sports" organized by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League in May. There, Wiggins will have an audience of high school girls, coaches and trainers to offer information about the disorders as well as the benefits of sports for young people.
Female athletes are probably more at risk for eating disorders because they may have certain predisposing personal attributes that both make them athletes, according to Wiggins. They are driven to succeed and often ignore pain while trying to reach a goal. They are also very aware of their body and sensitive to weight changes, she said.
At the same time, it must be remembered that athletes are less likely to do drugs, have fewer problems with depression and have an increased self-esteem, she said. Exercise has certainly been beneficial in her life, said Wiggins.
Indeed, perhaps the best way that Wiggins can change the thinking about women athletes is not by writing or lecturing but by example.
Wiggins is a marathon runner who maintains an ambitious exercise regimen, has four children between the ages of 2 and 10, is on the staff at the hospital and maintains a private medical practice.
She credits running with helping her meet the goal of being the first in her family to graduate from college. Wiggins has trained for and completed seven marathons while earning her degrees, starting her family and career.
"It helped me set goals and achieve them ... it helped me keep focused. When times were really hard it was always a constant for me," she said.
In showing young girls that exercise can help them meet goals both on and off the field, Wiggins hopes any glorified ideas of being fragile and thin drop by the wayside. Female athletes should instead subscribe to the thought: "I don't have any limitations," she said.