Eating disorders dull skating's lustre as awareness grows

FILE PHOTO: Japan's Akiko Suzuki competes during the women's short program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, north of Tokyo March 27, 2014. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

TOKYO/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Japanese figure skater Akiko Suzuki was struggling with jumps when her coach said losing a kilogram could help. Instead, in two months she lost nearly a third of her body weight, putting her career - and her life - in danger.

Too weak to skate, she was diagnosed with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Her weight had fallen from 48 kg to 32 kg on her 160 cm frame.