Cheerleading and Eating Disorders (2024)

Georgia high schools have a long tradition of creative, enthusiastic and award-winning cheerleading teams. Cheerleading can be a fun, team-oriented sport with plenty of benefits. At some point in time, every girl dreams of being cheer captain at her high school. The bright lights, the pom-poms, and being the focus of so many eyes is appealing to a lot of teens. Being the center of attention can be damaging to some teens. Parents of cheerleaders, both male and female, should be aware of the impact that cheer can have on kids.

Attracting attention is the teenage way of life. It's during this time that teenagers develop their body image: how they see themselves and how they want others to see them. Adolescence is a crucial period when events that adults may consider trivial mean everything to a teen.

Developing a healthy body image promotes self-esteem and confidence in young adults. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true, and an unrealistic view of one's body image may lead to life-threatening eating disorders.

A recent study done at the University of South Carolina suggests that the skimpy outfits worn by most cheer teams contributes to a higher percentage of eating disorders in cheerleaders, especially when the cheer uniforms are midriff-bearing.

Toni Torres-McGehee, author of the study, concluded that no matter how tiny cheerleaders in their study became, they all assumed that their coaches wanted them to be smaller still.

Having a teenager with an eating disorder is a devastating thought for parents. Eating disorders can lead to a multitude of health and mental problems and in tragic cases, death.

Eating Disorders

The three main types of eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. Anorexia is characterized by an intense fear of weight gain, reluctance to eat, and an obsession with exercise.

Those who suffer from bulimia often overeat, then vomit in order to purge the food before the body can absorb it. Binge eaters habitually overeat, consuming large amounts of food at once.

All of these disorders are characterized by a seriously skewed body image, self-deprecation, and a preoccupation with food, eating and exercise.

These are serious disorders with complex mental and emotional roots. Trivializing or ignoring the problem does not help.

If you fear that your teenager is suffering under the burden of an eating disorder, seek help from a professional. Your family doctor can help you address the problem and direct you to programs that specialize in recovery.

Prevention

The best way to stop your child from developing an eating disorder is to recognize the signs early, and act! Help your teen make good choices about food, develop self-esteem and have a healthy body image. Your help can make a world of difference. Some schools and community centers offer prevention programs.

As awareness of eating disorders and their connection to cheerleading rises, many schools and cheer programs have taken steps to protect their cheerleaders. Midriff-baring cheer uniforms are being replaced with more age-appropriate attire and cheerleaders are being coached with acceptance instead of a drive for perfection.

Ask your teen's coaches what they're doing to promote a healthy body image, and see what you can do to help.

Other Dangers

While many argue about whether cheerleading should be considered a sport, routines become more and more difficult, requiring athleticism well beyond anything that cheer squads did a couple of decades ago.

Your bouncy teen may be thrilled to cheer at her high school, but clubs like Cheer Extreme in North Carolina exist to prepare kids from second grade to college for challenging competitions.

If your child is sensitive or fearful in a competitive environment, think twice about enrolling her in a situation that could exacerbate the conditions that lead to eating disorders.

Torres-McGehee, T.M., Green, J.M., Leeper, J.D., Richardson, M., Leaver-Dunn, D., Bishop, P.A. (2007). Prevalence of eating disorders: Effects of body image and anthropometric measures in auxiliary units. Medicine in Science in Sport Exercise, 39(5), S409. Torres-McGehee, T.M., Monsma, E.V., Washburn, S., Minton, D.M., Searson, J.R. (2010), Prevalence of Eating Disorder Risk and Body Image in NCAA Collegiate Cheerleaders. Medicine in Science in Sport Exercise, 42(5), S288-289. Levine, M., Maine, M. (2005). Eating disorders can be prevented! National Eating Disorders Association. Retrieved March 30, 2011, from www.NationalEatingDisorders.org
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Cheerleading and Eating Disorders (2024)

FAQs

What is the rate of eating disorders in gymnastics? ›

Search for: Eating disorders and disordered eating affects 50-65% of gymnasts, yet this is often overlooked and underplayed.

How many dancers end up with eating disorders? ›

Prevalence of Eating Disorders in Ballet

In the United States, eating disorders affect approximately 30 million Americans at some point in their lifetime, which is approximately 9% of the entire population. However, in dance, it's estimated that 12% of dancers as a whole struggle with an eating disorder.

What sports have the most incidents of anorexia athletica? ›

Causes of Eating Disorders

For women, the 3 athletic activities that place them most at-risk for disordered eating are gymnastics, dancing, and figure skating. For men, these activities are wrestling, equestrianism, and body-building.

What percentage of athletes struggle with eating disorders? ›

Additional studies have found that the rate of eating disorders in college athletes falls between 1.1% and 49.2%, with one study determining that nearly 31% of all college athletes reported: Bulimic tendencies. Weight preoccupation. Body dissatisfaction.

What sport has the highest rate of eating disorders? ›

Sports with the highest risk of eating disorders
  • Swimming.
  • Running.
  • Gymnastics.
  • Diving.
  • Synchronised swimming.
  • Wrestling.
  • Judo.
  • Lightweight rowing.
Mar 21, 2022

What famous gymnast has ADHD? ›

Simone Biles is the most decorated American gymnast ever and arguably the greatest American gymnast of all time.

Do dancers have to be thin? ›

Yes, an ideal figure without extra pounds is not just to create clean, long and beautiful lines. It is not only to create an impression of lightness on stage. There is another crucial reason why a ballerina should be as slim as possible.

How many models have anorexia? ›

14.6% of the models showed subclinical anorexia nervosa symptoms versus 2.7% in the control group (p < 0.001). The ratio of bulimia nervosa and subclinical bulimia nervosa showed no significant difference between the two groups.

How many calories a day do dancers eat? ›

The easiest rough estimate of how many calories a dancer requires during heavy training is 45-50 calories per kilogram of body weight for females and 50-55 calories per kilogram of body weight for males. For a more accurate assessment, dancers should consult a dietitian.

What famous gymnast has an eating disorder? ›

Cathy Rigby, famous gymnast and eating disorder sufferer, experienced cardiac arrest twice. There are two primary reasons why an athlete gets caught up in bulimia. To maintain a low weight, she might start with severe restricting, which does accomplish the desired result for a long period of time.

What is red S syndrome? ›

Relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) describes a syndrome of poor health and declining athletic performance that happens when athletes do not get enough fuel through food to support the energy demands of their daily lives and training. RED-S affects athletes of any gender and ability level.

What gymnast had an eating disorder? ›

Three-time Olympic gymnast Kim Bui of Germany is opening up about the darker side of her career in a new memoir released last month. The 34-year-old, who retired in 2022 after helping her squad to a team bronze at the European Championships in Munich, says she struggled with disordered eating throughout her career.

What group has the highest rate of eating disorders? ›

Females. Women are considered to be the population most impacted by eating disorders, with studies indicating women have higher rates of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder than men (.

Who has the highest rates of eating disorders in the world? ›

70 million people are living with different eating disorders globally. 36. Of all the countries in Asia, Japan records the highest rates of eating disorders. Additionally, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan have led Asians to high rates of eating disorders.

Which of the following could be a trigger for an eating disorder? ›

Trauma, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental health issues can increase the likelihood of an eating disorder.

How many female gymnasts have eating disorders? ›

4.1.

More than 1 in 10 female adolescent gymnasts in the present study presented ED symptoms. ED symptoms were more prevalent among competitive athletes than non-competitive athletes and, as expected, competitive gymnasts scored higher in the total score of EAT-26 compared to non-competitive gymnasts.

Do gymnasts eat a lot? ›

A lot of young, high-level gymnasts don't eat enough because they're not hungry due to the appetite-blunting effects of long training hours. Parents often tell us they know their gymnast isn't eating enough.

References

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