eating disorders in gymnastics

[gymdog]

To some extent I would agree with that. This is one of the things I am tending to learn about after the fact at this point, as the girls I did gymnastics with get older. On the other hand, while I hadn't really seen some things coming, in retrospect the pieces would fit to some extent. But it's hard to tell. I've heard a lot of girls say some variation of "I can't quit gymnastics because I don't want to get fat," but not all of them developed eating disorders. Some were joking, but for people who are really struggling with that idea, they don't necessarily pick up on it as a joke and it becomes another tidbit to fuel the obsession.

I don't think it's necessarily the coach or parent's fault either. While coaches and parents can definitely accelerate concerns in a vulnerable time and should be careful, in my experience there's no blueprint for what you have to do to prevent an eating disorder, like if you just do the right things, your kids won't be affected. You could do all the right things and they can find the triggers elsewhere...from a friend at school who is restricting food, from pro-ana websites, even from the compliments they get about being thin. I think part of the problem with eating disorders is first, how often people throw around the label "anorexia" when it's not really the case, until it almost becomes some kind of joke, and second, that there's kind of a viewpoint that it takes a lot for someone to get to the point of an eating disorder. And I don't think that's true. It's not always one thing that sets it off...it can be a lot of little things that someone who isn't trapped in thoughts about body images doesn't pick up on.

[mygirlflipz]

One thing that I think is very important is COMMUNICATION. An earlier post mentioned the fact the girls can be pretty good at hiding it if they have a problem and I think that is very true. I was very concerned about the fact the my dd was not used to being weighed and talking about her weight everyday at the gym. I was worried about how she would react and wondered if hearing her two weights everyday was going to cause problems for her, especially since Japanese gymnasts/people tend to be thinner and smaller. The psychologist that I spoke with told me that we should be fine as long as she keeps talking to me about it everyday (her weight is proudly embedded in her daily report of what she did at the gym that day). She said that I should worry if she ever stops telling me what is going on with her weight.

It is a scary thing to think about, but as parents and coaches we just have to hope they know we are here and can help.

[jes.the.gymnast]

i agree alot with KTB
i had small eating problems when i was doing gym and they have followed me to now. i was more worried about looking good then weighing in for gym but that was an added pressure. i still try to stay in the same weight range i had when i was doing gym which is hard cause i do little sport now.
it all adds up and leeds to problems if you ask me

[margymmom]

I agree that this may be more prevalent than we know. Secrecy is core feature of EDs and girls with EDs are pros at hiding information. Also, it is entirely possible to have an eating disorder and to be of average weight or even overweight (esp. in the case of bulimia). To make things worse, the personality characteristics of great gymnasts often overlap with those commonly found among eating disordered girls (perfectionistic, type A, highly controlled). Anything that draws excessive attention to weight can by risky, and I would be very concerned about weighing girls daily (or even weekly). I think the sport does create an atmosphere were EDs can thrive, but there must be a predisposition or other factors that come together to lead a girl to an eating disorder.