Body
Chicago Health magazine recently published an article about reducing the risk of injury in women athletes, featuring Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Monica Rho, MD, vice president, chief of medical affairs and section chief of musculoskeletal medicine.
Dr. Rho also serves as the lead physician for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, and she shared insights with Chicago Health based on her deep expertise in sports medicine.
In the article, “Leveling the Playing Field: Protecting Women Athletes From Unique Injury Risks,” Dr. Rho said female athletes need to “balance energy input with the output their sport requires” to avoid triggering common issues such as menstrual irregularity, low energy and decreased bone mineral density.
Dr. Rho further reinforced the need for balancing nutrition and energy, noting that female athletes’ metabolic state can put them at risk for bone stress injuries, hormonal fluctuations and unhealthy weight loss.
“It’s especially important for young girls to be aware of matching their energy intake to their expenditure because all women have a limited window where they build up their bone density,” Dr. Rho said in the article. “Once they reach their 30s, it’s hard to lay down more bone, and they start losing it. This is what eventually leads to osteopenia and osteoporosis.”
