Warning Issued on Student-Athlete Weight Practices

The American Academy of Pediatrics says student-athletes sometimes engage in unhealthy weight-control practices, and a new policy from the group asks doctors to guide athletes, their parents, and coaches on healthy ways to gain and lose weight.

Youth activities such as cheerleading, dancing, gymnastics, and wrestling emphasize leanness or thinness, while football and basketball often motivate athletes to gain weight, says the policy published Dec. 5 in the journal Pediatrics .

The policy’s lead author, Dr. Thomas Martin, a Williamsport, Pa., physician who specializes in sports medicine, said coaches have been guilty of promoting unhealthy weight practices among students. The AAP is trying to help young athletes “who want to gain or lose weight [understand] what is the proper way to do it,” he...