Losing weight as an athlete is complex, says Per "Pliggen" Andersson.

- It's often one of the fastest ways we can get a performance improvement. It is important to understand when we have reached an optimal weight. This with eating disorders has different bottoms. I think that is an extremely important issue, he tells SVT Sport.

In the Winter Studio December 14, sports were debated with health as an effort. And that it is not healthy to be an elite athlete is something Per Andersson agrees with.

- The burden that our elite athletes are exposed to today is extremely extreme. It goes against tougher and tougher requirements. They train harder and under higher loads. This means that we need to build proper networks around our active ones. These networks also need to be developed at the same rate as the load increases, he says.

Sweden's Olympic Committee, SOK, has a strong focus on health checks and has an action plan for how to follow up individuals when they suspect they are heading into an eating disorder.

- During this last ten-year period, my image is that this has become an increasingly central issue and it has high priority in our work at SOK, says Andersson.

In Sweden, the larger sports federations have the opportunity to build up a staff of specialists on various issues, so as to be able to capture and help athletes with problems. But it is an opportunity that not everyone has.

- There are too many associations that lack a medical organization around them. Only the big ones have the resources. In the future, resources must be put in place for the sports medicine part, says Andersson.

ARCHIVE: Matilda Algotsson: "Was told when I was 13 that I would lose weight" (September 22, 2019)

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