Ultra Slim and Fast

They're the quickest, strongest, most flexible women in the world. So you'd expect elite female athletes to be up on the latest health and fitness info.

Fact is, they may be even more prone to health and body image myths than the rest of us.

Take eating disorders. "They're more common in elite athletes—especially gymnasts and figure skaters," reports Pauline Powers, M.D. "It's occurring more in swimmers and tennis players, too."

The problem is that top athletes, like ordinary women, too often believe that more fit equals less fat. In fact, says Powers, there's little evidence that athletes who reduce their body fat content below normal levels are healthier or perform better.

"It's increasing muscle content, rather than decreasing body fat, that improves performance," contends Powers, a psychiatrist at the University of Southern Florida and past president of the Academy for Eating Disorders.

As their body fat level drops below normal range, many elite athletes—like non-athletes with eating disorders—develop amenorrhea, a suspension of their menstrual cycle. Such women may be able to run 26 miles in a marathon or turn a double axel, but that doesn't make them paragons of fitness. "It's not a sign of health to lose your period," insists Powers.

To remedy matters, the U.S. Gymnastics Federation formed a nationwide club for gymnasts that includes a hotline young athletes can call if a coach or parent is pressuring them to lose more weight than is healthy. And coaches in the program will receive training on how to detect and prevent eating disorders in their athletes.