Yes, there is a direct link between eating habits, amenorrhea, and the injuries one sustains.
As discussed earlier, too little estrogen associated with amenorrhea may predispose to osteoporosis/decreased bone mass density. An example of injuries, due to too little estrogen is stress fractures.
Eating disorders, estrogen deficiency, and menstrual dysfunction predispose women to the third component of the triad: osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is defined as a bone mineral density (BMD) score of less than 2.5 standard deviations below the mean for age. Osteopenia is defined as a BMD score between 1.0 and 2.5 standard deviations below the mean for age. The initial focus of these definitions was to identify patients, primarily in the geriatric age group, who were at increased risk for fracture. Some investigators have changed the focus for the diagnosis of female athlete triad from osteoporosis to osteopenia (Feingold, 2006).
In 1990, Myburgh and colleagues showed a direct correlation between the time spent amenorrheic and the number of stress fractures in athletes. Inadequate calorie intake seems to be the primary mechanism that predisposes female athletes to menstrual dysfunction and resulting detrimental effects on bone. Women who have anorexia nervosa are at an increased risk for stress fracture development (Feingold, 2006).
Reference:
Feingold, D., (2006) Female athlete triad and stress fractures. Orthopedic clinics of north America. 37(4)
