The Female Athlete Triad
In 1992, the American College of Sports Medicine first recognized that girls and women in sports were particularly susceptible to three interrelated conditions - disordered eating, menstrual irregularity, and osteoporosis - that have come to be known as the "female athlete triad [1]."
While reliable statistics on the number of gymnasts affected by disordered eating or Triad related problems are not available, the stories of how such celebrated gymnasts as Nadia Comaneci, Cathy Rigby and Kathy Johnson struggled with disordered eating suggests, as a 1995 article in Sports Illustrated put, that women gymnasts are "designed for the disease."
What statistics there are suggest that a significant percentage of gymnasts, particularly at the elite levels, are affected:
A Canadian study of youth gymnasts (average age 13.4 years) reported that 10.5% saw themselves as overweight, 27% reported worrying about the way they looked, and 39% reported dieting behaviors; those who perceived pressures by coaches to be thin were more likely to report poorer body image and disturbed eating behaviors.
The number of college gymnasts who have engaged in disordered eating practices ranges from 51% to 62% according to the NCAA, a far higher percentage than in any other sport.
A 1996 study reported disordered eating in 100% of elite female gymnasts, and osteoporosis in more than half, although another preliminary study suggests that gymnasts do not appear to suffer from osteoporosis and that gymnasts actually experience a gain in bone mass and density.
There are a number of reasons why female gymnasts are particularly vulnerable to disordered eating, including the fact that:
Because they need to maintain a thin and girlish figure to be competitive at the highest levels (the average size of the U.S. team declined from 5'3", 105 pounds in 1976 to 4'9", 88 pounds in 1992), gymnasts are more inclined to view starving themselves (i.e. becoming anorexic) as a way to avoid developing hips or breasts that could negatively impact on performance
The sport is full of controlling, authoritarian coaches whose recommendations to lose weight are taken very seriously by the young, impressionable athletes they instruct.
Proper nutrition is critically important for gymnasts because the enormous demands and stresses they put on their body causes them to burn calories at a rapid rate. Nutrition not only impacts a gymnast's growth and development but training and performance as well.
Here are some nutritional tips for parents of female gymnasts:
Gymnasts need protein [3] (3 to 4 ounces of lean meat for most kids; tofu, tempah, beans and rice for vegetarians) to rebuild and repair muscles banged up during training or competition. The most important time for protein intake is within two hours of finishing a workout/competition and the next day.
The actual number of calories a gymnast needs depends on a number of factors (lean body mass, body weight, and intensity, duration, and frequency of training)
Links:
[1] https://momsteam.com/node/75
[2] https://momsteam.com/node/249
[3] https://momsteam.com/node/242
[4] https://momsteam.com/node/982