Low energy availability (LEA) describes the disruption in normal physiological function existent when insufficient energy intake is combined with exercise. To conserve energy a range of endocrine adaptations occur, impairing health and athletic performance. The prevalence of LEA has not been fully established especially among recreational exercisers. Determining recreational exercisers at risk of LEA may help to maximise prevention, early diagnosis and treatment. The dasign of this study was across-sectional online survey. One-hundred and nine female recreational exercisers, with a mean age of 23.8 (SD 6.9) years were recruited via gyms and fitness centres throughout NZ. Participants completed an online questionnaire including questions from the LEAF (Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire). A total of 45.0% (CI, 35.4%, 54.8%) of participants were classified as at risk of LEA. For every extra hour of exercise per week the odds of being at risk of LEA were 1.13 times greater (CI 1.02, 1.25, p=0.016). All participants reporting previous stress fracture injuries (n=4) were classified as at risk of LEA. Significantly more subjects participating in an individual sport were classified as at risk of LEA (69.6%, CI 24.3%, 54.8%) compared to team sports (34.8%, CI 18.7%, 40.5%) (p= 0.006). The high prevalence of female recreational exercisers at risk of LEA is of concern, emphasising the importance of increasing awareness of the issue, and promoting prevention and early detection strategies, so treatment can be implemented before health is severely compromised.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 26. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 February 2026.
All research outputs
#1,875,157
of 34,410,315 outputs
Outputs from International Journal of Sport Nutrition
#288
of 1,405 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#24,023
of 342,408 outputs
Outputs of similar age from International Journal of Sport Nutrition
#7
of 34 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,410,315 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 94th percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,405 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 27.1. This one has done well, scoring higher than 79% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 342,408 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 92% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 34 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 79% of its contemporaries.
