Prevalence Of The Attributes Of The Female Athlete Triad In Competitive Nigerian Female Athletes

Prevalence of the Attributes of the Female Athlete Triad in Competitive Nigerian Female Athletes Jane Sharon Akinyemi, Nancy I. Williams, Ana Carla Salamunes, Mary Jane De Souza. Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802 The Female Athlete Triad syndrome describes three interrelated conditions: energy deficiency with or without disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction, and poor bone health. Data on the prevalence of the Female Athlete Triad is scarce in Nigerian athletes. PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence of Triad components in competitive Nigerian female university athletes and explore hematological markers. METHODS: Seventy-one (age = 21.8 ± 0.3 yrs, BMI = 22.5 ± 0.6 kg/m2) female athletes from the University of Lagos, during the Nigeria University Games Competition, completed a Health, Exercise Nutritional Survey to provide demographics, medical history, exercise, and dietary practices. Athletes consented to a complete blood count (CBC) assessment: white blood cell (WBC), hematocrit (HCT), red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB) and platelets. RESULTS: Exercise frequency was 4.6 ± 0.3 days/wk., age at menarche 12.8 ± 0.1 yrs., and gynecological age 9.2 ± 0.5 yrs. Factors reflecting energetic status include: 28% reported eating a low-fat diet, 38% dieted to lose weight to change their body composition and to improve performance, 3% reported a history of anorexia and/or bulimia. The prevalence of oligomenorrhea was 15% while amenorrhea was 19%. Stress fracture history was 13% and 4% had a family history of osteoporosis. Thirty-four percent refrained from training due to injuries during the past year. CBC measures demonstrated RBC (3.95 ± 0.06 10^12/L), HGB (10.64 ± 0.11 g/dL), HCT (32.68 ± 0.31%) WBC (5.20 ± 0.14 10^9/L) and platelets (245.17 ± 8.2 *10^9/L), demonstrating that RBC and WBC were within the normal range while HGB, HCT and platelets were below the normal range. CONCLUSION: A significant percentage of Nigerian female athletes demonstrated factors reflective of poor energy intake, menstrual dysfunction and bone health problems including a history of stress fractures and absence from sport due to injury. More research is necessary to expand on the details related to these findings.