- May 8, 2011
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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.
All-Star Cheerleaders With Eating Disorders?
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- Jan 31, 2011
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I think there are a lot of factors that effect that. Do your parents, friends, classmates, or coaches put pressure on you to lose weight or be skinny? Is a lot of emphasis and reward given to small fliers or tumblers? Do coaches use weight loss as a motivator (You're going to have to lose 20 lbs if you want to do X)? Are you the only heavier girl on a team of thinner ones? A lot of eating disorders stem from confidence issues. Cheerleaders are pretty self-confident, especially since being a cheerleader still carries some social stereotypes (pretty, popular) I think gymnastics is a little different because to be a gymnast you NEED to be small because otherwise you can't do those skills. You can still be a really great cheerleader even if you're not super small.
- May 3, 2010
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some of the uniforms that teams wear now a days i think make girls feel pressured to be thinner. I had a friend who wouldnt eat a few days before a competition to look good in her uniform. not eating definatley DOESN'T help your performance.
- May 8, 2011
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- Thread starter
- #5
The girl I knew was my best friend. She started feeling like she was too big to be a flyer becasue she was in 10th grade whie most of the team was between the ages of 7th-10th grade. Which doesnt make sense since she was also in 10th grade. But luckily her friends caught it. She is now better and cheering again. I know that she will always fight this disease which scares me but I know she's strong. I know this might sound weird but I believe it made her a stronger person. going through all of this stuff. JMO
cupieqt
Person everyone wants to meet this season
- Jan 24, 2011
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In college we were weighed weekly. In front of the guys. It was very informal but HUMILIATING if you gained an ounce or were the biggest girl (me at 5'4", 110 lbs).
One of our girls was anorexic/bulemic but she made the team with this very obvious disorder. Her hair was thinning and her teeth were junk. Her head was bigger than mine and she was an inch taller than me but I looked like gigantor next to her. Nothing was ever said or done until SHE came to practice after a weekend intervention by her non-cheering roommates and informed the team.
I always felt bad that I never did or said anything but I was young and jealous of her (seriously, I was--idk). Now she's happy and healthy and thriving with 3 kids. She needed serious help and I'm thankful she got it but I still question why no one ever did anything. I was 17/18 years old but we had 23 year old grad students and a 26 year old coach. None of these "adults" ever stepped in on her behalf.
One of our girls was anorexic/bulemic but she made the team with this very obvious disorder. Her hair was thinning and her teeth were junk. Her head was bigger than mine and she was an inch taller than me but I looked like gigantor next to her. Nothing was ever said or done until SHE came to practice after a weekend intervention by her non-cheering roommates and informed the team.
I always felt bad that I never did or said anything but I was young and jealous of her (seriously, I was--idk). Now she's happy and healthy and thriving with 3 kids. She needed serious help and I'm thankful she got it but I still question why no one ever did anything. I was 17/18 years old but we had 23 year old grad students and a 26 year old coach. None of these "adults" ever stepped in on her behalf.
- Mar 19, 2010
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I've never had an eating disorder but I can completely understand why some cheerleaders do. I try to lose weight but, in ways that don't lead to an eating disorder. I'm still trying to lose weight: 1. because I'm a flyer, the biggest flyer on the team and I feel bad for my bases because I do as much as I can to help them but I sometimes feel like I just weigh to much. and 2. because I used to have a skill last year but I got a mental block and lost everything. I got everything back except one skill, which i can't seem to do anymore. The only difference between now and then is i've gained almost 20 lbs. So i'm trying to lose that much so I can hopefully get the skill back.
MomOf2ThatsMe
Cheer Parent
- Feb 18, 2011
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I have no direct experiences with this however, as a parent this terrifies me more than the thought of a stunting accident. Last season my 8 year old (42#) was complaining about having to lose weight because her bases were struggling with her in the air. Not good. I went straight to the coaches immediately.
kykycheermom
Cheer Parent
- Jan 17, 2011
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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.
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.
- Mar 21, 2010
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God bless you
- Nov 17, 2010
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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.
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.
- Mar 7, 2011
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I could totally understand why. Honestly I always thought that maybe i could go a couple days without eating , and loose a couple pounds. It's super hard for me to tumble because I'm 5'8 . Skinner than most of the taller , and shorter girls at my school. But i didn't like the numbers on the scale. And i thought maybe if i lost about 20 or 30 pounds , then it would be easier for me to tumble. And cheering would be a million times easier its self . And when i started skipping meals. I remember myself eating 3 baby carrots for breakfast , and not eating for days at a time. Then at one practice i got really sick. Thats when my mom noticed what i was going through. She immediately talked to me , and told me that i was already skinny, but i had alot of mussel, it weighs more than fat, and that this sport was going to be difficult especially for me , even though it was the sport i loved. Now i thank God that she saw that , and helped me.
- Mar 23, 2010
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On the contrary, someone that I knew had been struggling with her body image and an eating disorder on and off for years...cheerleading was the only thing that HELPED her. It helped her realize that withering away into a stick-person wouldn't get her anywhere, and it promoted healthy exercise in her daily routine so that she was able to develop the muscle she needed to actually get through practices or a whole routine. It was the only thing that drove home to her the beauty of muscles and strength and being okay with herself as a healthy person, and that starving herself would only RUIN her cheer skills. I know it isn't like that for everyone, but I wish it could be.
- May 8, 2011
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- Thread starter
- #15
My friends main base did the same thing to her, and that's why she became anorexic.
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