Weight Loss Their Greatest Opponent

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Before high school and college wrestlers can face their

opponents in the ring, they must first vanquish one in the

locker room, the scales that determine whether they're

eligible to compete in a given weight class. In order to

make the weight they want, many of these young athletes are

using fasting, dehydration, diet pills, and laxatives as

ways to lose weight quickly. How widespread is this potentially deadly practice? A recent

study of wrestlers in Michigan high schools found 7 out of

10 used at least one possibly harmful weight loss method

each week of the wrestling session -- and just over half of

them used at least two methods each week. About a quarter of

the young wrestlers lost 10 pounds or more during the

season, and 11% fasted longer than 24 hours before a match. The study was published in the May issue of Medicine and

Science in Sports and Exercise. "This study reinforces what we've known for years," lead

author Robert Kiningham, MD, tells WebMD. "While previous

studies have looked at elite, highly committed wrestlers, we

looked at everyone. Disturbingly, we found the same

percentage of harmful behaviors as previous studies of elite

wrestlers, suggesting these behaviors are widespread. "Kiningham is an assistant clinical professor and director of

the sports medicine fellowship program at the University of

Michigan School of Medicine in Ann Arbor. Many wrestlers try to compete in an unrealistically low

weight class because they believe this gives them a

competitive advantage, says Doug Andersen, DC, nutrition

consultant for West Coast Sports Performance and Sports

Medicine Consultants in Manhattan Beach, Calif. , and a

nutritionist for the Los Angeles Kings hockey team. "First, wrestlers should qualify for a sensible weight

class," he says. "If you skip one meal the day beforehand in

order to drop two or three pounds, that's one thing. But

when someone tries to drop tremendous amounts of weight, 10

pounds or more, we're concerned. While they may not have an

eating disorder in the strict sense, they certainly have

disordered eating. ""In 1997 three healthy college-age men all died because they

were trying to make weight for the wrestling team, using

similar rapid-weight-loss regimens based on dehydration.

Wrestlers put on nonpermeable clothing and exercise hard,

and then don't rehydrate themselves. This is dangerous,"

says Samantha Heller, MS, RD, a senior clinical nutritionist

at New York University Medical Center and an exercise

physiologist. Short-term studies have found rapid weight loss can lead to

a decline in the ability to think clearly, loss of athletic

strength and power, and mood changes, Heller says. No one

knows if there are long-term effects, because long-term

studies haven't been done. The authors of the Michigan study conclude by saying,

"Altering these entrenched behaviors will require a unified

effort by coaches, administrators, parents, and wrestlers

throughout the sport. "However, some coaches don't see any need for change. "Wrestlers have a short-term goal, to make their weight,"

says Dick Bellock. "They may not eat for a day but we all

skip meals once in awhile. Teenage kids get hungry. They

make weight, they eat right afterward; that isn't

necessarily binge eating. "Bellock wrestled in high school and college and is now the

athletic director of McKay High School in Salem, Ore. Bob Ferraro agrees. "We already have safety measures in place," says Ferraro,

executive director of the National High School Coaches

Association, based in Easton, Pa. "Every wrestler must be

examined by a physician, and the physician determines the

weight class that wrestler will compete at. These issues

have already been addressed. "Andersen, however, believes changes are needed. "Today, wrestlers weigh-in hours before or the day before

the match. They should have to weigh-in just beforehand. If

someone had to wrestle in a dehydrated state, weak as a

kitten, they wouldn't like it. "Since the data was collected for the Michigan study, the

state has instituted a new program using mandatory weight

standards based on a measured percentage of body fat.

Kiningham hopes the new program will be effective in

limiting pressures on young wrestlers to engage in unhealthy

weight-loss behaviors in order to compete. Source: WebMDYou have permission to publish this article electronically or

in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included.

A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. About The Author

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Michael Lewis has been collecting articles and information

on Weight Loss and HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and related

health benefits. He has created and edits numerous web

sites about this subject. Michael is a staff writer for

http://www. ageforce. com and several other websites. If you would

like to contact Michael you can e-mail him at

Michael@AgeForce. com or if you would like to know more

about Weight Loss, HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and related

health topics please visit us at

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Author:
Michael Lewis