Women’s sport and good health

July 20, 2015

Women’s sport and good health

A symposium that focuses solely on the health needs of athletic girls and women will take place at Cambridge’s Avantidrome in September.

The symposium is being organised by Sport and Leisure lecturers from the University of Waikato and is expected to attract sport and exercise scientists and researchers, health professionals, clinicians, trainers, educators and coaches who work with female athletes, parents, and athletes themselves.

One of the organisers, Dr Holly Thorpe, says a key focus will be on health concerns related to energy deficiency.

“We all think sport and exercise is good for us, and the more the better. But there are some unique risks facing female athletes, particularly for those girls and women whose dietary intake does not cover their energy expenditure,” says Dr Thorpe.

She says there is a lot of important research relating to the long-term health risks of energy deficiency that is not making its way to coaches, parents and athletes. “This symposium focuses on the interrelated issues of The Female Athlete Triad, including body image concerns, disordered eating practices, menstrual function, and bone health.”

Contributors to the two-day symposium will come from New Zealand and overseas and include Professor Mary Jane De Souza from Penn State University in the US. Professor De Souza is Director of the Women’s Health and Exercise Lab there and an international expert on women’s health and physical activity. Her colleague Professor Nancy Williams, a specialist in nutrition and physiology, is also attending.

And direct from the ‘athlete’s mouth’ national cyclist Katie Schofield will talk about her cycling career and her experience of being diagnosed with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), when athletes under-fuel their bodies which then can’t support main functions for optimal health and performance.

Dr Thorpe says the Waikato symposium aims to bring the top researchers and health, sport and exercise professionals together under one roof to discuss issues from a variety of perspectives, “and to provide coaches, educators, parents and athletes with useful information to support the long-term health and wellbeing of athletic girls and women in New Zealand”.

For more information go to https://education.waikato.ac.nz/homeofcycling/about-us/our-events/female-health-symposium/

The symposium takes place on September 3 and 4 at the Avantidrome in Cambridge. Early bird registrations are now open.

ends

© Scoop Media