News round-up and reminders for CPSDA members

Boot Camp Jan 26, 2013:  The deadline for early registration is December 31 for the first CPSDA "boot camp" to be held on the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The CPSDA boot camp, sponsored by our premier sponsor Muscle Milk, is an intensive full day of instruction for students of dietetics and for RDs interested in transitioning from clinical settings to full-time Sports RD.   Visit our "boot camp" page on this site for more information and to register online for $75 in December or $100 thereafter.

                                                                                       
                                                                                      
University of Illinois Sports RD Chelsea Zenner was invited in November by President Amy Bragg and Conference Chair Amy Freel to represent the Collegiate & Professional Sports Dietitians Assn. at a gathering of more than a dozen of the nation's foremost pediatric and bone health experts convening in Chicago for The Athletic Energy Deficit (AED) Prevention Initiative Symposium.  The two-day session, sponsored by American Bone Health and The American Academy of Pediatrics, was co-chaired by Bob Murray, PhD., who will be speaking in May at the CPSDA Conference in St. Louis.  CPSDA's Zenner issued a summary report, as follows: 

As a group numbering 24 in all, we were charged with the task of creating a prevention initiative for athletic energy deficit (AED) in the 9-to-14-year-old female population. We spent much of our time identifying the issue and brainstorming ways to publicize the existence of AED and its associated negative impact on bone health, performance, and potential long-term complications. We highlighted groups that we felt will be needed to help us push this initiative through--among them coaches, parents and medical/health professionals--and discussed the role each of them will need to play.  As a college Sports RD who spends time with athletes competing in a variety of sports from many countries and from every imaginable socio-economic background, I was able to provide a perspective on AED athletes that others in the gathering found to be a valuable view from "inside the trenches."  Most notably, I conveyed Sports RD insights about how athletes' struggle with AED often continues on into the collegiate setting; and reiterated what AED athletes often tell Sports RDs regarding the extent to which their role models, parents and coaches influenced their fueling habits when in grade school and while transitioning to high school.  I was also able to provide some perspective on the impact AED athletes have on their teammates; comment on the dangers of teaching them to count calories instead of responding to hunger/fullness/training demands; and shed some light on the existence of a psychological component that is common among AED athletes despite lack of a full-blown eating disorder.  I will continue to be involved with the development of this initiative as it progresses. The anticipated roll-out is currently set for early 2014. 

                                                                               

5th Annual CPSDA Conference & Symposium will be held Monday thru Thursday, May 20-23, 2013 at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel.  Online registration will be available, and the program agenda will be published, on this site in January.