'Female athlete triad' risk for women.

YOUNG FEMALE athletes who are driven to excel in their chosen sports may be at risk of developing a potentially fatal triad of medical disorders, a panel of sports medicine experts warns. While exercise is widely viewed as beneficial to women of all ages, the pressure to succeed in sports by achieving or maintaining an unrealistically low weight through food restriction and exercise may lead some young women to develop an eating disorder, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis, the panel reports. These three associated disorders, now called "the female athlete triad," were the subject of a symposium and press conference at the 40th annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), held in Seattle, Wash. "Although silently observed for decades by coaches, parents, and athletes, only recently has [the triad] been described in the medical literature," says Kimberly K. Yeager, MD, MPH, Assistant Director for Public Health Practice, San Diego