The Harmful Effects Of Eating Disorders In Wrestling

Few sports encompass the battle of human bodies and wills quite like the sport of wrestling does. Two opponents of equal size, with little equipment, and no goal other than to physically dominate your opponent. Ask any wrestler, however, and they will tell you that this “physical” battle is 90% mental- more about breaking and outlasting your opponent rather than feats of physical strength. Press that same wrestler a little further, and they will admit that the toughest battle is not actually with the person standing on the line across from you, but rather within your own mind and body. The fact that wrestlers drop a lot of weight before competition, (sometimes using harmful methods) is well-known, but few people understand the full process
Lisa Kotler of Columbia University, a direct correlation was found between having an eating disorder as a teen, and continuing that disorder well into adulthood. Pushing teens into practices that qualify as anorexia and bulimia only sets them up to continue these unhealthy habits as adults. On top of this, the damage caused during their high school years can be permanent. On average, high school and collegiate wrestlers rapidly lose 6-7 lbs per week, and 20% report losing 8+ lbs per week (). More than 75% of wrestlers report having used a combination of saunas, running, dehydration, rubber suits, and extreme fasting to lose large amounts of weight prior to weigh-ins (). While some fluctuation in the body’s water levels is natural, extreme dehydration can cause damage to the heart and kidneys. Subjecting their bodies to these conditions dozens of times during the season for years on end can cause irreversible damage to their still-developing bodies. Personally, I believe that these claims are highly exaggerated. While there is plenty of data available on the extreme methods wrestlers use to make weight, very little data has been collected tying it with long-term harm. In the nearly one-hundred years since college wrestling has existed, there have been a grand total of two deaths directly tied to weight cutting since it’s inception. After those two deaths, the NCAA implemented even more rules to ensure that no athlete is pushed too
The human body was extremely adaptable, and could manage those problems. Our ancestors did not shrivel up and die if they had trouble finding a clean water source for a few days, or accrue irreversible damage if food was scarce and they were on a calorie-restricted diet for several months. While they may not have been functioning at their best, their bodies returned to normal once resources were plentiful, and they survived to pass on their genes. While I concede that the extreme weight loss methods wrestlers use might not promote the best of health, they are temporary. In a study by the Journal of Athletic Training, samples were taken from 79 former wrestlers and 139 former non-wrestling athletes that used to compete and University of Wisconsin-Madison. The study attempted to find a link between wrestling and a skewed metabolism, unhealthy weight gain, and prevalence of chronic illnesses as an adult. Not only did the study fail to find a link, but the former wrestlers actually scored slightly higher in several different health