RJA #9b

Argument

Research Question:

Do athletes who actively participate in competitive sports have a higher risk of suffering from an eating disorder?

Claim/Thesis:

Athletes who actively participate in a competitive sport have an increased chance of suffering from an eating disorder because of the compiled stress placed on their lives from sport practices, demands, and the pressure to win.

Reasons:

1. The demands of practices and training on top of other life responsibilities can be stressful.

Evidence: "The struggle to manage practices, competitions, and...(other) demands can be overwhelming; some athletes turn to unhealthy tactics to regain...control." -Pomodoro: www.bu.edu/today/2009/12/16/athletes-and-eating-disorders

2. The personality traits that make for an excellent athlete; the need to please, perfectionism, self-discipline, etc., can be mental traits connected to eating disorders.

3. Weight and image standards in sports, such as, gymnastics, dancing, wrestling, and figure skating, can apply pressures to maintain or achieve a weight unhealthy for the athlete, thus, leading to drastic measures involving an eating disorder.

4. Competitive athletes in general are younger and more impressionable. Eating disorders are highest among teenagers in ages from 14-18. The correlation between young competitive athletes and the highest age bracket for eating disorders show the vulnerability of these athletes at that time. The pressures placed on them from coaches, family, and society may be enough to bring them to this.

Objections

1. Eating disorders are most often linked with psychological problems, so the athlete struggling would have had the eating disorder regardless of their participation in the sport or not.
2. Within American society, females, in general, statistically have higher rates of struggling with eating disorders than men, so you can not blame the sports for the female athlete's disorder.
3. Many athletes within these competitive sports do not have eating disorders, so is the cause really the sport.