Why is it important for female athletes to pay special attention to menstrual cycles?

Why is it important for female athletes to pay special attention to menstrual cycles?

Divya Kakaiya (Program Founder and Clinical Supervisor) gives expert video advice on: Why are athletes susceptible to anorexia?; What sports have more susceptibility to anorexia?; What is the female athletic triad? and more...

This is such a point of denial among female athletes because most runners will tell you, "when I clock in those miles, I stop getting a period." And my coaches have told me that it is very normal for me not to have a period. So what occurs is that it feels like denial because when that female athlete is not having her menstrual cycle, that means that she does not have enough nourishment in her body and does not have the right amount of fat deposits to have the estrogen that is going to protect her bone. So when the female athlete stops having a period she ought to get alerted about that because then that means her bone is going to get affected in the long run. She ought to pay attention to that, but it is very prevalent among female athletes to feel very good about the fact that you are not having a menstrual cycle and not to worry about it.