Bone mineral density, rib pain and other features of the female athlete triad in elite lightweight rowers

Objective: To determine bone mineral density (BMD) and the associations among BMD, menstrual history, disordered eating (DE), training history, intentional weight loss (IWL) and rib pain for the first time in female lightweight rowers.\ud Setting: 9 lightweight rowing clubs, UK.\ud Participants: 29 Caucasian female lightweight rowers volunteered. 21 (12 active, 9 retired) completed the study.\ud Inclusion criteria: female lightweight rowers aged over 18 years. Exclusion criteria: participants with a history of bone disease, used medications known to influence BMD or if they were pregnant, lactating or postmenopausal.\ud Main outcome measures: Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measured total body (TB) composition and BMD at the spine, femoral neck (FN), radius and TB. DE, oligomenorrhoea/amenorrhoea years; rib pain and training history.\ud Results: DE was reported in six of the rowers. The active with DE started rowing younger (p