Silvennoinen Julia I K, Ihalainen Johanna K, Valtonen Maarit, Mjøsund Katja, Sipilä Pyry N
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland.
University of Jyväskylä Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences, Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi, Finland.
BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2024 Sep 13;10(3):e002050. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2024-002050. eCollection 2024.
Low energy availability (LEA) is common in athletes. Disturbances in sex hormone levels due to insufficient energy availability have been suggested to influence cholesterol metabolism and impact the overall risk for cardiovascular disease. We assessed the relationship between Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q) and Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire Short (EDE-QS) scores with cholesterol levels in a cross-sectional study of female athletes.
Finnish national- to international-level female athletes self-reported physiological symptoms of LEA, including menstrual disturbances, using the LEAF-Q (n=176) and eating disorder symptoms using the EDE-QS (n=294). Serum cholesterol concentrations (mmol/L) were determined from venous blood samples. We analysed the relationship between the different variables using Pearson's r and linear regression. We also studied separately participants representing lean sports, that is, sports that emphasise leanness (LEAF-Q, n=60; EDE-QS, n=80).
LEA symptoms were common; 72 (41%) of 176 participants scored ≥8 points in the LEAF-Q, which is indicative of a high risk of problematic LEA. A one-point increase in LEAF-Q score was associated with a small, non-significant increase in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level (beta=0.024, 95% CI -0.0011 to 0.049, p=0.061). Higher EDE-QS scores were associated with higher LDL cholesterol levels (beta=0.028, 95% CI 0.0098 to 0.046, p=0.0029). These associations were somewhat stronger among athletes representing lean sports (LEAF-Q and LDL: beta=0.043, 95% CI 0.0041 to 0.08, p=0.031; EDE-QS and LDL: beta=0.036, 95% CI 0.0041 to 0.068, p=0.028).
In this study, LEAF-Q and EDE-QS were associated with higher LDL cholesterol levels among athletes representing lean sports.
低能量可利用性（LEA）在运动员中很常见。能量可利用性不足导致的性激素水平紊乱被认为会影响胆固醇代谢，并影响心血管疾病的总体风险。在一项针对女性运动员的横断面研究中，我们评估了女性低能量可利用性问卷（LEAF-Q）和饮食失调检查问卷简版（EDE-QS）得分与胆固醇水平之间的关系。
芬兰国家级到国际级的女性运动员使用LEAF-Q（n = 176）自我报告LEA的生理症状，包括月经紊乱，并使用EDE-QS（n = 294）自我报告饮食失调症状。从静脉血样本中测定血清胆固醇浓度（mmol/L）。我们使用Pearson相关系数r和线性回归分析不同变量之间的关系。我们还分别对代表瘦身运动项目的参与者进行了研究，即强调瘦身的运动项目（LEAF-Q，n = 60；EDE-QS，n = 80）。
LEA症状很常见；176名参与者中有72名（41%）在LEAF-Q中的得分≥8分，这表明存在LEA问题的高风险。LEAF-Q得分每增加1分，低密度脂蛋白（LDL）胆固醇水平有小幅、不显著的升高（β = 0.024，95%置信区间 -0.0011至0.049，p = 0.061）。EDE-QS得分越高，LDL胆固醇水平越高（β = 0.028，95%置信区间0.0098至0.046，p = 0.0029）。在代表瘦身运动项目的运动员中，这些关联更强一些（LEAF-Q与LDL：β = 0.043，95%置信区间0.0041至0.08，p = 0.031；EDE-QS与LDL：β = 0.036，95%置信区间0.0041至0.068，p = 0.028）。
在本研究中，LEAF-Q和EDE-QS与代表瘦身运动项目的运动员中较高的LDL胆固醇水平相关。
