October 2001 • Volume 7 • Number 10
FP works to keep female athletes healthy
"The female athlete has different needs, unique medical concerns, and we need to screen them differently from male athletes," says Aurelia Nattiv, M.D., of Los Angeles.
Runners on UCLA's 2001 women's cross country team benefit from health screenings targeting female athletes.Nattiv, associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Family Medicine, Division of Sports Medicine and Department of Orthopedic Surgery, knows all too well the injuries and health issues that plague UCLA's female athletes --including nutrition problems that can affect a woman's menstrual cycle and bone health.
"We want to be sure that our female athletes get enough calcium and that their menstrual periods are regular," says Nattiv. She screens athletes for irregular menses and encourages a calcium intake of 1,200 - 1,500 milligrams daily because "disordered eating and menstrual problems are significant risk factors for stress fractures and low bone density."
Nattiv also encourages her female athletes to maintain a positive energy balance -- taking in enough calories to fuel the amount of energy expended. "A long-distance runner expends an incredible amount of calories per day," says Nattiv. This athlete needs to consume more calories than an average person just to stay in that positive energy balance. "We look at her energy expenditure and her intake and then educate her on appropriate dietary intake and nutrition to fuel her body throughout the day," she says.
When a negative energy balance has been corrected, the menstrual cycle may be restored. "We're less apt to go immediately to the oral contraceptive pill to normalize menses," says Nattiv. "Instead, we try to focus on the underlying problem -- the energy deficit -- and work on that through lifestyle changes."
Researchers are focusing on maximizing peak bone density to prevent bone loss and future osteoporosis. "A window of opportunity exists to increase bone density during childhood and adolescence," says Nattiv. Researchers are therefore currently studying the effect of jumping exercises on bone density in elementary-school children. "Being proactive is the wave of the future," says Nattiv. "As researchers identify risk factors, new interventions will be put into place to try and minimize these risks."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2001 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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