Goplay Commercial Playground Equipment
Goplay designs and manufactures specialised playground equipment for indoor play centres, hotels, food chains, clubs and resorts. If our years of experience and dedication have taught us one thing,…
read moreThe Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) have today launched a call to action around awareness of poor self-image and poor body image among high-performance athletes, with the release of the AIS-NEDC Disordered Eating in High Performance Sport position statement and supporting resources.
The position statement assists sporting organisations to address this serious, but often misunderstood area, enabling them to recognise that disordered eating can occur in any athlete, in any sport, at any time.
Incorporating the most contemporary evidence-based information, the AIS and NEDC have collaborated to provide the toolkit of resources for sporting organisations to improve understanding of the signs and symptoms of disordered eating and be in a better position to refer athletes to seek additional help. The toolkit includes a dedicated website, policy templates, workshop delivery and other practical resources.
AIS Chief Medical Officer Dr David Hughes says one of the key recommendations is for all sporting organisations to develop a sport-specific disordered eating policy.
Dr Hughes notes “disordered eating and eating disorders occur commonly in the general community and sport is a microcosm of society. Due to the nature of high-performance sport we know that there is a higher prevalence of disordered eating and eating disorders in athletes compared to non-athletes.
“Disordered eating is extremely complex and can affect the mental and physical health, as well as the performance of athletes.
“To help foster a healthy sport system for all athletes, we believe all sporting organisations should have a disordered eating policy in place that is tailored to suit the needs of their organisation and athletes.”
Paralympian Jessica Smith, who lived with an eating disorder for many years during her international swimming career, says everyone has a part to play in the early identification and prevention of disordered eating.
Smith explains “as with many mental illnesses, there is still this stigma in society that may be preventing athletes from seeking help.
“Education and conversation across the whole high-performance sport environment will hopefully encourage anyone who needs help to come forward.”
NEDC National Director Dr Beth Shelton says the position statement and supporting resources have been developed with the health and wellbeing of athletes at the forefront.
Dr Shelton advises “The AIS is providing vital leadership by generating conversation about disordered eating and eating disorders in the high-performance sporting environment, and by providing resources to help promote athletes’ mental and physical wellbeing.
“The guidelines and resources that have been developed will help everyone who works directly with athletes to better understand the warning signs, or red flags, and be in a stronger position to support athletes to seek help if they need.”
The full position statement can be found at www.ais.gov.au/disorderedeating
22nd August 2020 - AIS backs athlete preventative healthcare model with scholarship program
28th May 2018 - Australian Institute of Sport set for Summit launch of new Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement division
30th November 2019 - AIS and Sport Australia look to increase leadership depth and diversity in sport
3rd September 2020 - Snap Fitness aims to raise more than $50,000 to support mental health initiatives
Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?
As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.
The Complete Guide to Leisure Industry Products & Services.
Goplay designs and manufactures specialised playground equipment for indoor play centres, hotels, food chains, clubs and resorts. If our years of experience and dedication have taught us one thing,…
read moreSince 1989 Elite Pool Covers have designed and manufactured an extensive range of high quality affordable manual,semi-automatic and fully-automatic pool cover systems for the harsh Australian…
read moreAusfit began in 1992, providing software services to the health and fitness sector including ClubWise, a fully hosted web-based product which combines state of the art club management software,…
read moreProSlide is the global leader in water ride design and manufacturing, supplying high-performance water attractions to new and expanding water parks around the world. For over three decades, ProSlide…
read moreBH Fitness, part of the long-standing and iconic bike manufacturer BH Group, is a global leader in fitness equipment for both Commercial and Home markets. The company, with the headquarters based in…
read moreTPEC Pool Enclosures provide a large range of premium commercial and residential retractable swimming pool, spa and terrace enclosures throughout Australia, servicing residential, local government…
read moreOriginally founded to meet the specific training requirements of its own venue management operations, Ampd Academy now embraces a broader mission to combat skill shortages across Australian…
read moreAflex Inflatables are the leaders for obstacle courses, pool toys, waterparks and land-based watersides and fitness runs. They are industry leaders offering the widest range of pool, lake and beach…
read moreGet your business noticed in our targeted directory. Viewed by 10,000 industry professionals per week!