– It is great to get this plan in place, and I hope this can ensure better follow-up in all sports going forward, says Therese Johaug to Dagbladet, via her manager Jørn Ernst.
Johaug is one of nine professionals who have sat in a working group that has drawn up an action plan against eating disorders in sports.
The working group was set up by the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF) after Dagbladet, through a series of articles in autumn 2021, revealed, among other things, that one in three young active, female cross-country skiers is at risk of developing eating disorders.
Now NIF has recently submitted its proposal for an action plan against eating disorders in sports to the Ministry of Culture and Equality and Minister Lubna Jaffery (Ap).
WILL CONSIDER: Minister for Culture and Equality Lubna Jaffery will now consider how to work further with the Swedish Sports Confederation’s proposal. Photo: Emilie Holtet / NTB Show more
– Eating disorders in sports are a problem that we take very seriously. Now we will thoroughly familiarize ourselves with NIF’s proposals and assess how the various proposals can be followed up, says State Secretary Erlend Hanstveit in the Ministry of Culture and Equality.
Own “centre”
In the plan, which Dagbladet has read, the working group proposes to gather the expertise that exists on eating disorders in sports in a separate expertise environment. They do not say anything about how this will be done and whether there will be a separate, concrete centre.
Gathering expertise and coordinating the work against eating disorders in sports even better is the most important measure in the 33-page plan NIF has delivered, says Vibecke Sørensen, former deputy chairman of NIF and chairman of the committee, to Dagbladet.
Seven out of ten feel body pressure
– There is a need to look at the problem collectively. In sport, there are many actors who want to contribute, but we must try to coordinate it better. We must come together to find the best solutions, says Vibecke Sørensen.
– Demanding
Eating disorders are a demanding problem, she emphasizes.
In the aftermath of Dagbladet’s series “En syk skinasjon”, the Storting decided in April 2022 that an action plan should be drawn up against eating disorders in sports.
NIF will present the action plan to the Ministry of Culture during January. Almost two years have passed since the decision was made.
SEE THE PROBLEM: 1st vice-president of the Norwegian Sports Confederation, Vibecke Sørensen, sees that eating disorders are a problem in sport, but also that sport can be part of the solution. Video: Hans Arne Vedlog. view more
Dagbladet has previously revealed that 1 in 3 active female skiers have what is called “disordered eating behaviour” – the precursor to eating disorders. 7 out of 10 cross-country girls feel body pressure and several former top runners in cross-country who struggle with weight and food give up before their careers have taken off.
Dagbladet also revealed that most of the female skiing heroes of the 80s lost their periods. 35 per cent of them struggled with eating disorders and several have the pre-stages of osteoporosis in adulthood. The pressure to lose weight can lead to health challenges decades later.
Injuries 40 years later: – This we have feared
The problem of eating disorders in cross-country skiing has been known since the early 80s, Dagbladet has shown. The incidence is the same now as when it was measured in 1991.
More competence
The vulnerable group that is part of sport is also part of society. Therefore, the work of sports must be linked to health and school, says Sørensen in NIF.
– We need a general increase in competence about eating disorders among general practitioners. Sport can also help to be part of a solution, she says.
Fierce tug-of-war led to cheers
In the specialist health service, there is now a doubling in the proportion of girls with eating disorders aged 13-18, according to a study from the Institute of Public Health.
Turid Kristensen (H) has been the proposer and promoter of the action plan. She is happy that sports are now taking action.
NIF’s working group:
These have drawn up NIF’s action plan against eating disorders in sport:
- Stian Ellingsen Lobben, GP and specialist in sports and general medicine
- Ive Kristin Staune, deputy leader of the National Group of health nurses and health nurses in Lillehammer municipality and at NTG Lillehammer
- Christine Holm Moseid, sports physician and specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, researcher at the Center for Sports Injury Research at the Norwegian University of Sports and Science and member of the Sports Medicine Ethics Committee
- Øyvind Rø, professor of psychiatry at UIO, director of research at RASP/OUS and associated with Olympiatoppen’s health department as a psychiatrist
- Kjetil Hildeskor, general secretary of the Norwegian Athletics Association
- Athlete representatives: Stian Skjerahaug (gymnastics) / Therese Johaug (cross-country skiing)
- Katja Smith Ødegaard, adviser in Healthy sport
- Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk, assistant general secretary of the Norwegian Sports Confederation
Source: Ministry of Culture
Sea view
– I am grateful for the work that sport has done, so that we can do something about the problem that Dagbladet uncovered, she says.
Kristensen hopes the plan helps overcome the problem of eating disorders in sports.
In its letter of award to the Swedish Sports Confederation, the Ministry of Culture and Equality writes that it expects work against eating disorders and body pressure in sport to be prioritized in 2024.
CLEAR EXPECTATIONS: Turid Kristensen, Conservative Party, is the one who put forward the proposal for an action plan. Now she expects that the ministry will deliver quickly, after the sport has drawn up its proposal. Photo: Nina Hasen / Dagbladet Show more
Final plan
The Ministry of Culture will prepare the final action plan.
– Now a good basis for working on this has been handed over, so I have a clear expectation that this is something the ministry can deliver on quite quickly. This is important to get in place, says Kristensen.
She believes that a unified competence environment will be of great importance in solving the other challenges that sport has identified, including by developing course material and getting information out.
– Most sports teams are made up of volunteers. There, I think a collective competence environment will be important to assist local sports teams and get hold of them early and prevent it from developing, says Kristensen.
Kristensen emphasizes that the capacity of the healthcare system to treat eating disorders must be increased at all levels – both at the GP and in the specialist healthcare service.
2024-01-07 21:24:13
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