The grim findings, based upon a year of monitoring 51 women athletes, are telling: 20 per cent of them missed their period and 90 per cent suffered from an iron deficiency. Is it any wonder then that talented Indian women athletes struggle to be performance-ready? It is also not difficult to detect the various roots of the crisis, since athletes, especially women, have to contend with odds such as poverty, prejudice and, crucially, invisibility. Most of the research on how women athletes should train is based on what works for men; worse, very little of this is relevant in the Indian context. In order to combat this problem, there must be renewed pressure on sports bodies and the government to release data around the food planning methodologies for Indian athletes, particularly women.

Source: The Telegraph December 30, 2019 18:56 UTC