Recent Advance on Relative Energy Deficiency in Female Athlete

Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose of this review was to summarize the current knowledge on the trends in athletes’ health problems (and their preventive strategies) caused by low energy availability (LEA) and relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S). METHODS In this narrative review, we summarized previous studies by searching the literature in the PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases. RESULTS Energy availability (EA) refers to the amount of energy from caloric intake used for exercise, and a LEA is considered as a surrogate marker of RED-S. In several previous studies, chronic low energy availability in female athletes has been reported to cause health problems such as endocrine dysfunctions, immunosuppression, and psychological disorders, and to also affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPC) axis and bone health. Moreover, it has been suggested that an increase in injury risk and a decrease in exercise performance may occur. CONCLUSIONS Since it can be difficult to recover from the health deteriorations caused by RED-S, early detection (of related signs and symptoms) and prevention are very important. Therefore, athletes, coaches, and parents need to develop educational programs that ease the recognition of the problems caused by various symptoms related to RED-S and promote educational interventions.

Keywords

• relative energy deficiency in sports
• energy availability
• low energy availability
• female athlete triad
• female athletic performance