Fueling the Athlete, Not Fighting the Body: Changing the Culture of Eating in Sport

Written by Megan Shawver, MS, RD

Athletes are often taught to push through pain, ignore fatigue, and sacrifice for the sake of performance. In some sports, this message becomes even more complicated: eat less, weigh less, and look a certain way to succeed. Over time, the line between discipline and harm can begin to blur.

As a dietitian and former collegiate athlete, I have seen how these expectations shape the way athletes relate to food and their bodies. What often begins as a pursuit of peak performance can gradually evolve into strained relationships with food, body image concerns, and the sense that success is tied to numbers on a scale rather than strength, skill, or character.

Disordered eating in athletics rarely develops in isolation. More often, it reflects patterns within the broader culture surrounding the athlete.

Eating Disorders in Athletics

In certain athletic environments, disordered eating behaviors can become normalized. When body composition and performance metrics are emphasized without equal attention to nourishment and recovery, athletes may begin to view their bodies primarily as tools for performance rather than as something to care for and sustain.

These pressures appear across many sports. Aesthetic sports such as gymnastics, dance, and figure skating have historically emphasized appearance and body composition, often through weigh-ins or commentary about weight. In sports with weight categories, including rowing, weightlifting, boxing, mixed martial arts, and wrestling, athletes may feel pressure to maintain strength while staying below a specific number on the scale.

Within these environments, behaviors such as skipping meals, restricting certain foods, or ignoring hunger cues can gradually become normalized as athletes attempt to meet expectations.

Fostering Supportive Team Culture

Team culture plays a powerful role in shaping how athletes think about food and their bodies. Upperclassmen, coaches, and teammates often set the tone for what is considered “normal.” When athletes observe others restricting food, relying heavily on caffeine to get through training, or criticizing their bodies, those behaviors can quickly become embedded in the team environment.

The language used in athletic spaces also matters. Comments about weight, body composition, or food choices, even when intended as performance feedback, can have lasting psychological effects and reinforce the idea that an athlete’s value is tied to their body.

Supportive team cultures recognize that nourishment is not separate from performance; it is foundational to it. Teams that prioritize fueling, recovery, and mental well-being send a powerful message: an athlete’s health is not a barrier to success; it is what makes sustainable success possible.

New Strides in Athletic Performance Culture

This new wave of athletes is truly shaking up the game for future generations. Most recently, we saw Olympic figure skater Alyssa Liu take back control of her training and preparation for the 2026 Milan Olympics. Upon return to the sport, she discussed non-negotiable conditions such as having full autonomy over her body, nutrition, and training conditions. She not only set boundaries in her approach to competition, but she also won multiple gold medals in doing so. 

Even large corporations like Dove are joining the conversation by supporting culture change in athletics. They continue to use their platform to highlight the high rate of adolescents quitting sports as a result of low body confidence, which was portrayed in a commercial during this year’s Super Bowl.

In recent years, we have seen culture change with decisions made by the International Olympic Committee. Traditionally, Olympic rowing has included weight category events such as lightweight and open weight. The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be the first Olympic competition since 1996 to not host lightweight rowing events.

Some argue that weight categories allow athletes of different statures to compete fairly. While that intention exists, weight-class sports have historically placed athletes in positions where maintaining a specific body weight becomes the primary focus. This can lead to drastic measures such as restrictive eating, excessive exercise, dehydration, and other harmful behaviors used to manipulate weight before competition. The removal of certain weight categories represents an effort to reconsider how competitive structures may contribute to unhealthy behaviors and long-term health risks for athletes.

These examples are not the complete solution, but they are meaningful steps toward a culture that prioritizes athlete well-being alongside performance.

Actionable Steps Towards a Supportive Team Culture

Culture change happens through everyday behaviors and conversations within teams. Small shifts in how athletes, coaches, and staff talk about food and bodies can make a significant difference in reducing stigma and supporting well-being.

Some practical ways teams can begin fostering healthier environments include:

• Normalizing eating before and after practice. Fueling is a necessary part of training, not something athletes should feel they need to hide or justify.

• Encouraging increased fueling as training intensity increases. As workload rises, so do the body’s energy needs.

• Supporting athletes in listening to hunger and fullness cues whenever possible. These signals are important tools for maintaining adequate energy availability.

• Addressing negative comments about bodies or food when they arise. Even casual remarks can reinforce harmful beliefs.

• Opening dialogue with coaches or staff when concerns about team culture exist. Honest conversations can help bring awareness to issues that may otherwise go unnoticed.

• Advocating for coaches and athletic staff to receive education on mental health, body image, and eating disorders, particularly in sports where these conditions are more prevalent.

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Creating supportive environments does not mean lowering expectations for athletes. Instead, it means recognizing that sustainable performance is built on a foundation of physical and psychological health.

Athletes deserve to compete in spaces where their well-being is valued as much as their results. By continuing to challenge harmful norms and advocating for healthier team cultures, we can move toward a future in sport where nourishment, respect for the body, and mental health are recognized as essential parts of athletic success.

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Megan Shawver (she/her) MS, RD, LDN, is a dietitian nutritionist who takes a non-diet, Health at Every Size (HAES)-aligned approach to her work with clients. She is passionate about helping others repair their relationship with food and feel more comfortable and confident about nourishing their bodies. She also has expertise in sports nutrition, which stems from her experience as a college athlete. Her counseling style incorporates a wide range of recovery-focused tools, including intuitive eating, gentle nutrition, and sustainable behavior change.

Megan received her Bachelor’s of Science in Health Sciences from Franklin Pierce University and continued on to receive her Master’s of Science in Dietetics from Meredith College. During her training, she refined her nutrition counseling approach in a wide range of settings, including an eating disorder treatment center, the NC Department of Health and Human Services, and Wake Med Cary Hospital.