- May 8, 2011
- 91
- 52
I was just wondering if eating disorders effects cheerleaders as much as it does gymnasts and some other sports. I personally know one person who had a disorder but is better now.
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I have often wondered the true prevalence of this in cheer as well. I danced up until the age of 18, and being built like a brick poop-house I was never the tiny ballerina one's expected to be. I had a very old school instructor who screamed at me, insulted and degraded me because of my weight. I was also made fun of in school and my home life was tragic. I bring all this up, because an eating disorder is not all about losing weight. Losing weight is a means of control of something in their life that they feel unable to deal with. I developed an eating disorder around the age of 12 (i was ED-NOS, before they just realized that it IS possible to have more than one specific dx.), and lived in it for about 15 years. After therapy and a few hospital stays (one for treatment and other for after-effects of the damage done by the ED), I have managed to forge a fairly normal life for myself and, while I still struggle with it from time to time, I don't engage. Why the history lesson? Ok, my take on it for cheer, is that it's definitely there, and through everything, sometimes we just don't see it. On the other hand, I believe the all-star world is more accepting of varying weights, then say college or high school cheer. I am hyper-vigilent of it in my daughter. She's big for a 9 year old, but meaning in height, not weight. I've made sure she understands she is NOT a number, she is who she acts like, feels like, wants to be. That number is no different that the numbers on a ruler-a measurement. One of her friend's mother's said to her once that when she cheered, for 3 days before any competition, she would starve or not drink anything. My daughter could not understand how someone would *willingly* not eat. She told me this, and I was furious. A little girl does NOT need this type of seed planted in her head. All the talk around World's time of "my World's diet", etc. I thought ridiculous. Little girls (and boys!) listen and watch intently to these athletes, want to be them, to do what they do-if that means they follow a "diet" when they clearly don't need to, they will and not look back. Eating Disorders cause so many other problems, and they cause problems later on in life (example-my teeth have been RAVAGED by it, I have serious stomach/digestive problems, heart arrythmia, constant headaches, higher risk of severe osteoperosis, and many different kind of cancer-and that's just a few).
I have seen signs in some other girls on my cp's teams, and it worries me. I wouldn't wish the torture of an eating disorder on anyone else. I know that if I see anything that confirms my suspicions, I will be the first one to run to the coach, their parents or even them.
My friends main base did the same thing to her, and that's why she became anorexic.sooo i have somthing that relates to this!
My team had this flyer who was mostly muscle! very skinny but as you know muscle weighs more than fat. So when we put her on the strongest group they got mad because they didnt have a tiny flyer. The main base called the flyer fat (whoo clearly wasnt fat at all, if anything underweight) and told her that she needed to lose weight. May i add that the flyer was only in 5th or 6th grade. Whenever they didnt hit a skill the main base would get all mad and rant and cuss at the flyer and tell her that she needed to go on a diet. This only made the flyer not want to fly , the girl got kicked off the team and the flyer is forever scared to fly now.