There’s a new term in town..

You may already be familiar with the syndrome known as the Female Athlete Triad, but did you know that back in 2014, the International Olympic Committee introduced a broader, more comprehensive term called Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport or RED-S? The underlying problem of RED-S is an inadequacy of energy to support the range of body functions involved in optimal health and performance for both female AND male athletes. In other words, athletes are simply not eating adequately to support their training needs. Sometimes, they simply lack the knowledge, skills and resources to fuel themselves properly, other times, both males and females strive to achieve a particular body weight they assume is required for optimal performance. Unfortunately, this quest can be detrimental to physical and emotional well-being as well as athletic performance.

Specifically, RED-S refers to impaired physiological function including, but not limited to, metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, and cardiovascular health, resulting from inadequate caloric intake to support training needs (Figure 1). In addition to the debilitating health effects, performance suffers as well (Figure 2) The physical, emotional and psychological consequences can take an athlete out of their game not just temporarily, but permanently. Athletes, Coaches, Athletic trainers, and Parents must be aware and recognize the signs and symptoms of this dangerous, but all too common condition.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 1 Figure 2

Mountjoy M, et al. Br J Sports Med 2014;48:491–497. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2014-093502

It is essential that athletes of all ages are aware of the energy demands of sport, understand how to nourish and fuel themselves appropriately and accept genetic predisposition for body size and shape. This is especially true for the growing adolescent.

My role as a sports nutritionist is to assess individual nutritional status and nutrient requirements to support optimal health and peak performance.