Diet called crucial for female athletes
By John Fauber Knight Ridder, 5/31/2001

MILWAUKEE - They appear to be the picture of fitness, but a group of female collegiate runners actually had vascular and bone health more typical of postmenopausal women, according to a study released yesterday by the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The study is the latest suggesting that women who exercise extensively and stop menstruating, especially those who do not eat properly, may be at greater risk for osteoporosis and cardiovascular problems.

All 10 of the women in the study - runners at Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and UW-Parkside - had stopped menstruating.

Although none of them had a known eating disorder, they were eating fewer calories than they were burning, said Anne Zeni Hoch, the study's author and an assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

''they look like the epitome of health,'' Zeni Hoch said. ''Yet, they have the vascular integrity of postmenopausal women and the bone mineral density of postmenopausal women.''

The study suggests that extensive exercise can lead to problems for those with an unhealthy diet. That is especially true in women who develop amenorrhea.

The women in the study had not been menstruating for an average of 2.5 years. On average, the 10 women with amenorrhea had been running about 35 miles per week.

This story ran on page 24 of the Boston Globe on 5/31/2001.