Every time I watch the summer Olympics I sit in amazement watching these young girls fly through the air doing graceful flips and turns. These girls spend countless hours and make millions of sacrifices in order to perfect their performance. There are numerous benefits to gymnastics, but there are also a considerable amount of negative effects on young girls.
Gymnasts that do a considerable amount of overtraining can develop a condition called, female athlete triad. This condition can lead to eating disorders, absence of menstrual cycles, and osteoporosis (Zehr). It is believed that eating disorders can be caused by a very strict diet coupled with the intense discipline of the sport. Absence of menstrual cycles is caused by the excessive exercise. The excessive exercise decreases the amount of estrogen in the body and therefore delays puberty (Zehr). The excessive training, low levels of hormones, and possible poor nutrition can lead to osteoporosis in young gymnasts.
Female athlete triad can be found in any sport where the participants are excessively training, but for some reason it is only in gymnastics that all participants have stunted growth and late-maturation (James). Stunted growth usually only happens during intense times of training, but seems to “catch up” once the exercise load is lightened or they retire from the sport (James). It is currently unknown why growth is temporarily delayed in gymnasts, but research is being done.
Do you think the delay of maturation of young gymnasts is healthy? Will the delay have any long term effects on the young girls?
James, Geoff. Negative Effects of Gymnastics on the Body. Ezine Articles. 18 February 2010. http://ezinearticles.com/?Negative-Effects-of-Gymnastics-on-the-Body&id=3788147
Zehr, Michelle. Effects of Overtraining in Gymnastics on Young Girls. LIVESTRONG.com. 12 May 2011. http://www.livestrong.com/article/438157-effects-of-overtraining-in-gymnastics-on-young-girls/
I know that working out excessively tends to be seen as a sort of positive form of stress - but I wonder if intense stress on the body makes a difference to the brain whether it is positive or negative? Robert Sapolsky talks about severe cases of psychological and physical abuse where children are very behind on their development because of the extreme stress they have undergone. When they were removed from such environments, and not too far into puberty, the kids for the most part started to grow again and had no lasting physical deformities. Could it be the same for gymnasts? The difference being that they continue stressing their bodies until their long bones are fused - preventing further growth and stunting them forever?
ReplyDeleteI think the answer to your questions depends on the intensity level of training that young gymnasts undergo. Some may be more resilient to stress than others and some may have a natural ability to perform well in the sport. Also, if a gymnast goes through puberty later than her peers, it would be important to see if her mother also had a late onset of puberty. Because it is advantageous in gymnastics to be shorter, a study I read by Bass et al. (2000) suggests that short stature in this sport is due to selection of individuals with reduced leg length. They also found that reduced sitting height is likely to be acquired by practicing gymnastics, but is reversible with cessation of the sport. Lastly, they suggest that a late onset of puberty does not automatically imply menstrual dysfunction in adulthood. However, I do feel like high-intensity training in gymnastics could have negative long-term effects on young girls--especially if they get stressed out easily or if eating disorders occur upon retirement from the sport.
ReplyDeleteBass, S. et al. (2000). Short stature and delayed puberty in gymnasts: Influence of selection bias on leg length and the duration of training on trunk length. The Journal of Pediatrics, 136(2), 149-155.
Reading over this post, I'm curious about whether the affects seen in gymnasts are sole due to their sport or rather the increased incidences of over training within that field. Its true that over-training is a huge concern for any competitive athlete and is an easy trap to fall into when you are caught up in preparing for the next competition. In general, the main characteristics of over-training is increased fatigue and under performance (Budgett). This can lead to deadly cycle where an athlete, because they did not perform well, believes then that it is because they are not training hard enough and so increase their training and perpetuating the issue farther. Obviously the increase in stress is not a good thing.
ReplyDeleteWithin the sports community, overtraining has now become considered a syndrome and there are many other negative affects besides fatigue and under performance that can occur. Studies have shown that over-training can lead to increased incidences of infection and injuries, depression, anemia and decreases in hemoglobin (especially among female athletes), dietary issues, and major changes in hormonal levels and response (Budgett). In light of these, athletes need to be very conscious of their training, adjust and manage their diets properly to supply their body with the energy needed to support the stress of their training, and plan for proper recovery and rest.
Budgett R. (1990). Overtraining Syndrome. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 24. 231-236.
I have been a dance teacher for competitive-level students for about 5 years now (and was a competitive dancer myself for years before that), so I know first hand the kind of pressure they feel to maintain a certain image.
ReplyDeleteGymnasts and dancers have the common notion that their bodies are valuable only during the years they are able to compete; for this reason, they push themselves to the limits for ten or fifteen years, ignoring the short-term consequences of their actions. In the dance world, a professional dancer is almost certainly retired by their early thirties. For this reason, eating disorders, foot/ankle injuries, and join problems commonly occur in dancers as young as ten years old.
I think articles like the one written by James can be dangerous to athletes in this situation. With the promise of maturation “catching up” after competitions end, athletes do not fear the long-term consequences. Osteoporosis has many negative long-term effects including stunted growth, muscle weakness, and easily broken bones. For an athlete, all of these problems are extreme.
Also, while it’s true that eating disorders can be caused by “strict diet and exercise”, athletes in gymnastics and dance are famous for their anorexic and bulimic tendencies. The body is an amazing machine; even without proper nutrition and life-threatening practices, gold medals may be won. This is not sustainable. However, in the mindset of an athlete aiming for trophies and who sees no future past their early thirties, this does not matter.
I find it interesting that female athletes and exercisers are more likely to suffer from eating disorders. “A study revealed that university undergraduate women who actively participate in sports and exercise- related activities tend to have higher rates of attitudes and behaviors related to eating disorders compared to those who do not regularly exercise” (1). The researchers concluded that “women who have higher anxiety about their sport performance were even more likely to experience eating disorder symptoms and body dissatisfaction” (1). I think eating disorders arise in female athletes due to stress and not being able to control their environment.
ReplyDeleteGymnastics requires a lot of time and maybe this leaves little down time. The feeling of not being able to control what you are doing everyday can lead to an eating disorder because a person may feel like that is the only thing to control.
Reference:
1.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080728193235.htm