SANTA ANA, California
Obese diners are free to gorge at McDonald鈥檚. Gambling addicts can spend every last dollar in a casino. Cancer patients are allowed to buy cigarettes.
So should gyms be different, as far as members who exercise too much and often have eating disorders?
That was the scenario raised in a letter to the British Medical Journal by an adolescent-health researcher troubled by the workout routine of an extremely thin, 20-something woman he saw during every visit to the gym.
鈥淲hile I鈥檓 trying to wake up on the treadmill, Amy is coming out of the early-morning aerobics class, having finished an hour-long workout,鈥� wrote Rony Duncan of Australia.
鈥淲hile the others head to the showers, Amy heads to the bicycles. Often, she is still there by the time I leave. 鈥� Having shared several concerned glances with fellow gym members, I suspect I鈥檓 not the only one who is worried.鈥�
While Duncan notes that businesses such as fast-food restaurants and casinos have no obligation to the well-being of their customers, he wonders whether gyms, which exist to promote healthy living, should be held to a higher standard.
Some fitness centres say they are aware of the problem. An article posted on the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association鈥檚 website includes tips on what to do if a member is suspected of having an eating disorder. In educational material posted there, one expert estimated 90 per cent to 95 per cent of people with eating disorders use a fitness centre.
San Diego State University has a public-service campaign targeting excessive exercise, sometimes called exercise bulimia or anorexia athletica, which asks: 鈥淎re you getting too much of a good thing?鈥�
Irvine, California, resident Robyn Baker, a personal trainer and pilates instructor, understands the compulsion.
She was anorexic at 18, but after reaching a healthier weight, she moved to over-exercising. She didn鈥檛 miss a three-hour workout in five years.
Looking back, Baker said some gym members must have been disturbed by her. But she also received compliments.
鈥淧eople would come up to me and say, 鈥榊ou look great; you鈥檙e in here all the time. That鈥檚 awesome.鈥� They would praise me and tell me I should be a model and I鈥檓 so skinny and I鈥檓 so lucky. In my head, my eating disorder loved to hear that.鈥�
Baker has worked in a number of large gyms and said none had policies for handling a member who appeared to work out too much.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very touchy subject,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like a bar; they can鈥檛 cut you off. When you go to a bar and you see someone drunk, a bartender isn鈥檛 going to give you any more beer. If you walk into a gym at two per cent body fat and bones are sticking out, they don鈥檛 say you can鈥檛 come in.鈥�
Baker said she would love to see gyms offer education on signs of eating disorders, as well as how to approach a member or personal-training client.
鈥淚t is a growing problem, and people don鈥檛 know how to address it, so they don鈥檛. They don鈥檛 want to talk about it because it鈥檚 uncomfortable. It鈥檚 taboo.鈥�
Irvina Kanarek, founder of Rewrite Beautiful, a Newport Beach, California, non-profit group that uses art against eating disorders, said those recovering from eating disorders can be triggered by seeing gaunt women exercise excessively in the gym.
She wishes health clubs had counsellors or psychologists available, although she admits intervention doesn鈥檛 always work. 鈥淚 had a woman trainer who was taking my body mass index [at the gym],鈥� Kanarek said. 鈥淪he mentioned to me, 鈥榊our BMI is really low.鈥� I was at the point where I wasn鈥檛 really admitting I had an eating disorder.鈥�
The trainer talked about the risk of eating disorders and too much exercise. 鈥淚 was completely offended and upset with her, and I never went back to that gym.鈥�
Nonetheless, Kanarek, who overcame anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating, said if she saw a gym-goer who appeared to be struggling, she would reach out.
鈥淚 would chat with them. I would get to know them. I would say I鈥檝e struggled with this.鈥�
