Blog Assignment 11

Problem Definition: The incidence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa has increased over the past 15 years in female American adolescents between ages 12 and 19.

Out of the three interventions I came up with to address the issue of eating disorders in young females, the one with the highest chance of success would be a program designed to prepare coaches of high-risk teams to tackle the issue in their female athletes. Considering that the prevalence rates of eating disorders are 33% in cheerleaders, 50% in gymnasts, 45% of modern dancers and 45% of cross-country athletes (Black 1), targeting this specific group, female athletes in high-risk sport teams, would address a good portion of the adolescents that suffer from eating disorders. The intervention would consist of an online program on a disk being created for coaches of these teams to watch. They would be educated on how to recognize eating disorders, prevent them, and on how to help their athletes if they are on a path or already have anorexia or bulimia. Coaches want their athletes to be healthy and in their best physical and mental state, so the safety and athletic performance of their athletes would be their incentive to watch and implement this program.

To implement this intervention, a council of experts on eating disorders and its prevention would be gathered to formulate the information that will be provided on the online disk. These would include pediatricians, therapists, researchers, nutritionists, and others who are knowledgeable on eating disorders. Together, this group will provide the nutritional information, how to recognize onset and signs of eating disorders, ways to help athletes avoid negativity towards their bodies, and methods of promoting a positive self and body image, that will be programmed on this educational disk. An IT team would be called in to put all of this information into an online program on an easily accessible computer disk. This team will design the program to be easy to read, use, and understand by coaches who may not have any background in the issue. Once the program is made, it will be promoted and distributed by an advertising team to schools, sport centers, and coaches where it can be purchased and put to use. A barrier to implementation would be the cost, as schools and the coaches, themselves, might not want to pay for a program if they don’t see it as useful. However, this disk would not be very expensive, could be purchased through a phone call or online, and the advertising team would bring to light how important this issue is and how it could benefit the coaches by improving their athletes’ athletic performance.

The way the program would be communicated is through a team of advertisers, salespeople, and distributers who will work together to contact schools across the nation and get them to purchase this program. Additionally, a website could be made where the program could be purchased and which contains all the necessary information about the importance of this issue and how the program can help. This way, parents or athletes that come across it could also suggest it to their coaches. Either the school could purchase it and charge the coaches or the coaches could purchase the program themselves. The coaches want their athletes to be healthy and if this program were to prevent eating habits that will cause poor athletic performance, such as a loss in stamina, energy, and muscle mass, then I believe that coaches would want to purchase the disk. 

            Once the intervention is in place, there a few ways to evaluate its success. One process measure would be to look at purchase records and see how many schools and individual coaches were convinced enough to buy the program. Another process measure could be to survey the coaches to see how many used the program and how many found it useful and applicable to their athletes. An outcome measure could be to survey the athletes and question them as to whether they feel they have benefited mentally or physically. This includes asking them whether they have healthier thoughts and eating habits, whether their coaches have helped them improve their self esteem, and whether they think less negatively about their bodies. This would tell us if the intervention was able to prevent or at least decrease the negative thoughts that may lead to an eating disorder. Another outcome measure could be to assess pediatrician and hospital records to determine if rates of eating disorders have decreased in areas where the disk is being used. If schools are actually buying the program, if coaches are actually utilizing it and implementing its information, if athletes are feeling helped by their coaches, and if rates of eating disorders are decreasing than the intervention would be successful.

Works Cited

Black, D.R., L.J. Larkin, D.C. Coster, L.J. Leverenz, and D.A. Abood. Physiologic Screening

Test for Eating Disorders/disordered Eating among Female Collegiate Athletes. Journal of Athletic Training. N.p., 2003. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.