One in five female players experienced disordered eating

One in five professional female footballers experienced disordered eating over a 12-month period, according to a study led by players’ union FifPro.

The study was researching the prevalence of mental health symptoms in female footballers and explored several categories, including body image.

A total of 74 players were part of the study led by football's worldwide representative organisation.

Dr Alex Culvin, FifPro's head of strategy and research, said disordered eating is "an entrenched problem in women’s football".

In January England international Fran Kirby discussed the "stigma" of nutrition in the Women's Super League with BBC Sport.

"It's really important to emphasise that, of course we're professional athletes and we have to be fit to do our sport, but a body shape doesn't determine if you're fit enough. A lot of people see athletes as robots," said Kirby.

Of the symptoms studied, disordered eating remained prevalent within 15-20% of female footballers over the 12-month period.

Disordered eating refers to an unhealthy relationship with food which covers many behaviours such as restricting food intake and excessive exercising.

The study also explored links between severe injuries, major surgery and mental health symptoms.

It found that female footballers were nearly twice as likely to report sport-related psychological distress following major surgery.

In May Chelsea defender Millie Bright, who led captained England to last summer's World Cup final, told BBC Sport how injury setbacks led to her questioning whether her "career was done".

"There's been ups and downs. Most people probably won't ever know about the downs. This season more than ever has been extremely difficult," she said.

'Players should not be treated as performance machines'

FifPro's Culvin retired in 2012 but played for Leeds, Everton, Doncaster Belles, AZ Alkmaar, Bristol Academy and Liverpool.

She said the discovery of disordered eating prevalence in female footballers was "not a big surprise".

"When I was playing I would say many of my team-mates had an unhealthy relationship with food," said Culvin.

"But it is also understandable. From an early age, your relationship with food is about performance. You might want to eat a burger, but the consideration footballers make is 'will this fuel or hinder my performance?'

"That triggers a different relationship with food. It’s not talked about enough because it’s not prioritised and is also normalised within sport."

Culvin said players "feel pressured to look a certain way" and the use of social media has "exacerbated" the issue in today's game.

"Players today feel their body shape is being constantly scrutinised online," she added.

Following the study, FifPro has argued that clubs should stop "constant surveillance" of players' weight.

"Players should not be simply treated as performance machines, whereby there is a constant and rigorous quantification of the body," added Culvin.

"In many club and national teams, there is a routine of checking body fat and weighing players – there is constant surveillance, and this is without any real performance-related indicators tied to these methods.

"There is this very old-school approach of players being weighed, and for what? It instils fear into players, with the risk of fatclubs and shaming.

"This has to stop if we are to start building environments that evoke healthy relationships with food."

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, BBC Action Line has links to organisations that can offer help and advice.

You can also go to bbc.co.uk/mentalwellbeing for more stories, information, inspiration and tips around mental wellbeing.