Episode 43: Eating Disorders and Running

Do you eat to run, or run to eat? This week we have roundtable discussion on a very important topic: disordered eating and eating disorders in running. (:35)

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Eating Disorders Roundtable

Casey Crafford

A Part of Hearst Digital Media National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (February 26-March 4), we’ve devoted the entire episode to a roundtable discussion on a very important topic.

We conducted a survey of our Facebook followers and readers asking about runners’ eating habits. What drove us to conduct the survey was curiosity about running and disordered eating and eating disorders. We felt anecdotally at least that this was a problem we’d seen among our runner friends and some of us had even experienced ourselves. Nearly 2,700 people completed the survey—1,940 women and 731 men.

For example, one question we asked was, “What are the reasons that you run?”

The No.1 reason among men and women was “to stay physically healthy,” followed by “to stay mentally healthy,” and “for fun and enjoyment.”

The fourth reason was “to manage or lose weight,” cited by 71 percent of our female respondents and 65 percent of men.

Other ideas stood out from the survey:

To the question: Have you ever run on a rest day or run hard on an easy day in order to burn more calories?
- 56 Health - Injuries.
To the question: Have you ever increased your exercise beyond your normal routine specifically to burn off calories you consumed?
- 71 Other ideas stood out from the survey.

Following the survey, a group came together for an honest discussion on all of these topics and what people can do. Our roundtable was hosted by Executive Editor Tish Hamilton.

Panelists for this roundtable include: Heather Mayer Irvine, Runner’s World Published: Mar 02, 2017 8:05 AM EST, Runner’s World social media editor; Rachele Shculist, a two time NCAA All-American runner at Michigan State University who recently The Best Running Podcasts Great Podcast Episodes for Runners National Eating Disorders Association.