I received this email from a former gymnast… (name has been changed)
Hi Rita, My name is Allison and I am 18 years old. I have since stopped doing gymnastics, largely due to weight issues. I have always eaten generally healthy and been at a healthy weight. When drama happened at my gym, I felt extra pressure to improve and got sucked into the “thin is in” mindset. I lost 20 pounds on my already light 5’1” frame, and then everything went downhill. I could barely make it despite training, but I would never think of jumping. My life revolved around the gym, exercise, and very low calorie intake. Ultimately this led to the end of my time at the gym, which I don’t enjoy. I dreamed of competing in college and wish I hadn’t taken that path. I just wanted to share my story and hope it helps someone.
After last week’s blog, I received several emails like Allison’s, all from former gymnasts who felt pressure to lose weight to the point of quitting the sport. Unfortunately, despite the progress that has been made in this area over the years, this is still a very real problem. This needs to be addressed so that parents and coaches can prevent what happened to Allison.
This is obviously a very complex and comprehensive topic that can only be covered in a short blog series. The goal here is to address the topic, provide education and realistic strategies to prevent our gymnasts from developing eating disorders or giving up the sport they love.
What is a healthy weight?
When a doctor tells you what you should weigh, he or she is probably using a height/weight chart or a BMI (body mass index) chart. The National Institute of Health (NIH) defines healthy weight using BMI. Body mass index is a number calculated based on height and weight (you can find BMI charts on the Internet). The NHI states that a BMI between 19 and 25 is healthy, between 25 and 29 is overweight, and 30 or more is obese. These guidelines are based on statistics on the prevalence of diseases and disorders and body weight. There is a greater prevalence of many lifestyle diseases and disorders (i.e.: diabetes, heart disease, cancer) among people with a BMI of 30 or greater.
So, a doctor is primarily concerned with your health and placing patients in the “healthy” category based on BMI. In the United States, 35.9% of adults are obese and 33.3% are considered overweight, which is a real concern. But chances are your daughter is a fit gymnast and doesn’t fall into the overweight or obese category. That doesn’t mean they don’t feel pressure to be thinner, though.
The pressure to be thin in today’s society
The problem is that much of our society doesn’t really care about BMI charts and achieving a truly healthy weight. The problem is that much of our society is still obsessed with being thin, even at the expense of health.
In the college health class I teach, I require my students to watch at least one of the following videos. The series Killing Us Softly illustrates very well the pressure placed on society by the media to be thin at all costs. I encourage you to watch these videos for a shocking, but very real, look at the world’s obsession with thinness and how it shows up on our children’s faces every day.
Thin hopes
Killing us slowly 3:
Killing us slowly 4:
Campaign for real beauty:
Despite modern technology and all the resources available today for valid and reliable health and wellness information and education, the pressure to be thin, almost at all costs, is very real in social media .
Now add to the equation a gymnast or other athlete, who also feels the pressure of being short and thin from their coach – perhaps led to believe that success is not achievable in a sport like gymnastics without being very small. This is simply not true. I can tell you that every member of the Fierce Five weighed no less than 100 pounds when they won the 2012 Olympic team gold medal in gymnastics!
Body Composition in Relation to Scale Weight
While working on my graduate degree at Michigan State University in the late 1980s, I participated in a research project focusing on weight loss and adults. Participants were divided into small groups and met weekly for educational sessions on health and wellness. They were asked to exercise at least 4 days a week for 30 minutes and weigh themselves on the scale every week. Many admitted in an anonymous follow-up survey that they lied about their physical activity, skipped meals, and some even loaded their pockets with coins during the initial weigh-in to ensure weight loss at future weigh-ins. And they were professional ADULTS. The pressure to succeed, even if it was through cheating and unhealthy measures, was acceptable to them!
Over my many years working in the weight management industry, I have become increasingly AGAINST weighing in with scales as a measure of body weight success.
As illustrated in my example above, it is possible to show weight loss on the scale that does not equate to better health, or even the truth. Anyone can skip meals, starve, and lose weight. Most initial weight loss from very low-calorie diets or starvation is water weight loss. Future losses from this type of diet may be the result of muscle breakdown, particularly heart muscle, and decreased metabolism. It can even lead to future weight gain due to a reduction in calories burned by the body. (Next week I’ll cover the topic of eating disorders and the health implications of anorexia nervosa.)
In my mind, there is NO reason for a coach or even a parent to weigh an athlete on the scale. If an athlete gains body fat that affects their training or safety, they should focus on good nutrition and possibly more aerobic exercise (gymnastics is primarily anaerobic). The measure of success should be improvement in performance or, if necessary, body composition. Like in Allison’s example, she lost 20 pounds — it looks good on the scale — but she found herself so weak that she couldn’t continue her gymnastics career. Being weak and exhausted can also lead to a greater risk of injury in the gym.
How to measure body composition?
Either way, the weight of the scale doesn’t tell the whole story. The number on the scale doesn’t tell you how much of that weight comes from fat and how much comes from lean tissue (like muscle). You CAN lose weight on the scale and not lose much fat. The only way to adequately measure body weight composition is body composition.
There are many ways to measure body composition. Many may be inaccurate. The gold standard for athletes is hydrostatic weighing. However, this is not readily available in most areas. There are bioelectrical impedance machines that measure body composition with a simple touch, but can be inaccurate due to variations in fluids in the body. Another, more available form of measuring body composition is skinfold thickness. This method requires the use of a special skin fold caliper and a trained professional.
Personally, I don’t believe body composition testing is necessary for gymnasts. If there is a problem with weight gain in an athlete who trains 20 or more hours per week, many other factors can be considered before simply weighing or measuring the athlete and then telling them to lose weight.
Factors to consider when considering body weight in gymnasts
A gymnast trying to lose weight is a touchy subject. As a parent, you need to ask yourself a few questions….
1) Who wants your daughter to lose weight? Is it his trainer? Does she feel peer pressure? Is it you??
2) Is his weight a health problem? Does she really have fat to lose? Is she going through puberty? Does she eat an adequate and healthy diet? Does his workout include aerobic exercise?
3) Is your daughter’s body image distorted?
Sometimes during puberty, girls gain extra weight. This is the crucial time to make sure she understands what healthy eating entails, that skipping meals and starving are NOT healthy, and that she needs to accept that she is becoming a woman.
Not every successful teenage gymnast needs to have the body of a child. A gymnast CAN go through puberty and growth and still remain a competitive, even elite, athlete.
Being fit and healthy is what will help your daughter reach her ultimate potential, not just being skinny.
Next week, I will discuss the risks of eating disorders, the female/athlete triad and basic athlete nutrition.
Let me know what you think www.gymmom.net.
Rita Wieber is the author of “Gym Mom: The Twists and Turns of Your Daughter’s Gymnastics Career” and mother of four, including world champion and Olympic gold medalist, Jordyn Wieber. Wieber is a registered nurse and has a master’s degree in exercise physiology and health education. Visit her website at www.gymmom.net.
