Participation in leanness sports but not training volume is associated with menstrual dysfunction: a national survey of 1276 elite athletes and controls.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of menstrual dysfunction in the total population of Norwegian elite female athletes and national representative controls in the same age group. METHODS: A detailed questionnaire that included questions on training and/or physical activity patterns, menstrual, dietary, and weight history, oral contraceptive use, and eating disorder inventory subtests was administered to all elite female athletes representing the country at the junior or senior level (aged 13-39 years, n = 938) and national representative controls in the same age group (n = 900). After exclusion, a total of 669 athletes (88.3%) and 607 controls (70.2%) completed the questionnaire satisfactorily. RESULTS: Age at menarche was significantly (p