Kids play sports. Like, a lot. Nearly half of all children between ages 6 and 17 are on some sort of organized team. The benefits? Huge. Higher self-esteem, lower depression. It looks great on paper.
But there’s a dark side to the scoreboard.
Anorexia athletica
It’s not a formal diagnosis in the medical manual, but it’s real. Alli Spotts-De Lazzer describes it as an athlete becoming obsessed with weight or body composition purely to win. Dr. Jessica Lin draws a hard line in the sand to separate this from anorexia nervosa. One is about being thin. This is about performance. They look similar from a distance but the engine driving them is different.
We don’t have great data. The condition isn’t tracked properly. What we do know is terrifying enough. A 2023 survey found that 77% of young athletes are at risk for an eating disorder. 22% are at high risk. The 14 to 16 age bracket? Ground zero. And it doesn’t discriminate by gender.
The Perfect Storm
Barbara Kessel calls it a perfect storm. Not a cliché, a mechanic. Young athletes are driven. They’re built to win. Perfectionism slips easily into tracking macros. Calories become a game. And we’ve handed them the controllers.
Wearables.
Apple Watch. Fitbit. For a whole generation, data isn’t abstract. It’s on their wrist. Heart rate, steps, calories burned. Dr. Lin warns these tools aren’t evil but they fuel existing fires. You see a number and you try to optimize it. You can’t turn off the obsession switch once it’s flipped.
Then there’s social media. Algorithms serve you more of what you engage with. You like a running tip? Suddenly your feed is full of “how to hit 9% body fat” videos. Usually designed for adults. Not growing kids.
And here is the trap.
Coaches cheer. Teammates high-five. They praise the late nights and the strict diets because they think it’s dedication. It looks like grit. It’s actually illness.
Spotting The Glitch
You won’t be told. That’s the first thing to know. Dr. Lorna Richards notes that the signs are physical and behavioral, often happening in private. Restrictive eating. Constant weighing. Dropping growth percentiles.
Maybe it’s subtler.
Mood changes. Irritability. Low energy. Recurrent injuries that won’t heal. Girls missing periods.
Dr. Lin points to a simple test. The team pizza party.
If the kid refuses to go because they’re avoiding pizza? That’s a red flag. Rigid thinking about food and training schedules is another. Spotts-De Lazzer stresses that these kids often don’t realize they are broken. They think this is just how winners are built.
Don’t wait for them to come clean.
They might never see a problem until their body crashes.
Breaking The Silence
You have to start the conversation. Do it wrong and it shuts down.
Lin advises against bringing it up at the dinner table. Too much eye contact. Too much pressure. Do it in the car. Side-by-side. It feels safer for the teen to speak when they don’t have to look at your reaction.
Start with observation, not accusation.
“I notice you’re not recovering from practice like you used to.” Or “You seem tired. Is it the nutrition?”
Once the door cracks open, guide them to a pro. Not a generic doctor, but an eating disorder specialist.
Education is half the battle. Teach them that food is fuel, not a moral choice. Sugar? Carbs? Fat? It’s all necessary. Lin emphasizes removing the “good vs. bad” food label. It creates binary thinking, and binary thinking breaks down under stress.
Treatment Isn’t One Size Fits All
Early intervention means dietitians and therapists. Work out the brain patterns before they harden.
If physical symptoms appear, bring in a pediatrician. Richards stresses a unified team. Psychology and physiology must heal together.
What about sports?
If the heart rate drops dangerously low or stress is too high? Kessel is blunt. Hit pause. No exceptions. Safety first. After treatment, a return to sports must be planned with coaches involved. Don’t just drop them back in.
Keeping It Human
How do you keep it healthy? Make sure it’s still fun.
If the sport makes your kid feel inadequate, stop. Take a break. Change teams.
Spotts-De Lazzer suggests reinforcing identity outside of sport. Tell them you love who they are, not just how fast they run. Separate worth from winning.
When you do praise performance, focus on effort. Support. Joy.
Kessel puts it simply regarding food: It’s never a reward to be earned. It’s never a debt to be burned off with extra running.
Kids absorb everything. If they get diet tips from Instagram influencers, remind them: that advice is for grown-ups with different bodies. Get them a real dietitian. One who specializes in teens.
We want active kids. Healthy ones. Not punishing ones. Staying in motion should bring life, not dread.
Though I wonder. In a culture obsessed with optimization, who decides what’s too much?
