The ‘Fuel Up and Feel Great’ campaign aims to help everyone understand the importance of energy, nutrition and wellbeing in aquatics.

Knowing how to identify the signs of low energy early should help young people get the support they need. This may be from friends and family, coaches, a local GP, a charity or a private organisation.

Identifying Low Energy

Low Energy Availability (LEA) happens when the body does not have enough energy to support all physiological functions needed to maintain optimal health, i.e. when there is a mismatch between energy in vs energy out. The body uses energy for exercise before using energy for crucial bodily functions, such as menstruation, bone development and growth.

Low energy can be happen due to relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S), overtraining syndrome, disordered eating or an eating disorder. Below are brief definitions of what these are:

RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport)

Impaired physiological factors causing impairments of metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis and cardiovascular health.

Overtraining syndrome

Performance decrement lasting over two months, maladapted physiology (psychological, neurological, endocrinological, immunological systems), and an additional stressor not explained by other disease.

Disordered eating

Food related behaviors that don’t meet the threshold for recognized eating disorders (EDs) but may still negatively affect someone’s physical, mental, or emotional health.

Eating disorder

An eating disorder is a mental health condition where you use the control of food to cope with feelings and other situations.