Question about Chinese gymnasts

[missypie]

I think it is the parents' responsibility to make sure that the gym encourages healthy eating but not starvation. One of my DDs is a gymnast and the other does competitive dance; at both the gym and the dance studio, there are plenty of girls with curves and that makes me happy. They may never go to the Olympics, or dance with the NYC Ballet, but they can enjoy their sport and their life.

Of course, who's to say how thin we would all be if we only ate healthy foods. Identical twin 11 year old boys live across the street from us; one had a rounder face than the other - that is how I (and I guess everyone else) could tell them apart. The rounder one got sick of being identified as the rounder one, so last December he - totally on his own - decided that he would cut out everything but healthy foods. He is now downright skinny; his mother says that he eats plenty - just no junk food.

So some of these tiny athletes may have decided that it is worth it to never have ice cream or M&Ms or french fries...if they are eating strictly healthy foods, they should be applauded.

 

[SRUAlmn]

A close friend of our family and her sister went out one summer a while ago to study with Bela Karolyi (sp?) He actually looked at the parents of all the kids that came and turned some away because their parents were 'tall.' Her parents are both below 5'2" so she and her sister stayed and studied for a 2 week camp. I found it very interesting some of the things they 'taught' them about nutrition.

After reading the book "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" you will understand that the American gymnastic (elite level) coaches pretty much starve those girls.

P.S. I really enjoyed that book- one of my favorites!

 

[maci]

Good point Missypie!!

Azpirates, I think it is a shame that you have witnessed taller girls being shunned, and agree if they are able to do the skills they should be encouraged the same as the rest.

Gymnastics is such a great sport, but it can have it's pitfuls.

I think the key is to find a good gym, and keep an open line of communication with coaches.
Unfortunately there are lots of coaches who have a win at all costs attitude, and who want the lime light of a champion, more than they care about the health and well being of their athletes.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I probably would make a lousy gymnast.

 

[Dancind]

My daughter dances with a girl that is "on track" to go to a top ballet school. She is 13, about 5'5", and weighs no more than 85 pounds. If a girl doesn't look like that, the ballet schools won't even audition them. It's even worse than gymnastics, I think.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Originally posted by Dancind
My daughter dances with a girl that is "on track" to go to a top ballet school. She is 13, about 5'5", and weighs no more than 85 pounds. If a girl doesn't look like that, the ballet schools won't even audition them. It's even worse than gymnastics, I think.

Yes it is. I was forever told when I took ballet that I wouldn't get very far because I was short and stocky. I was built to be a gymnast-short, wide shoulders, you get the idea, but I was placed in ballet instead. I never could have succeeded in either, because I have no grace, but that is beside the point. I was in the fourth grade when I stopped ballet. Compared to the other girls I was shorter and stockier (and they were a year younger than me) and was already being told that my height, and that of my dad was a problem. My dance teacher, a proper British woman, never failed to talk about how the perfect ballerina was tall and slender. The couple of us that did not fit that description in the class felt shunned even at that young age.

 

[DISshopkeeper]

Originally posted by Dan Murphy
I probably would make a lousy gymnast.

What a mental image!!!!! Dan, you on the balance beam!!!

 

[Deb in IA]

oogieboogie, I didn't know you were of Chinese descent!

I am also.

When I was 15 or 16, I looked almost like some of those gymnasts. Not quite that thin, maybe, but I was small. Still am.

Asians tend to look young, and our skin doesn't wrinkle much.

When I was about 37, I answered the door at our house. A neighbor, who we did not know very well was at the door, and I was in an oversized t-shirt and leggings (it was the weekend). He asked, "Are your PARENTS home?"

I had to tell him that I hadn't lived with my parents for 20 years ...

 

[PDXMULAN]

I am of Chinese decent too!! I agree with Deb, we are really blessed with skin that does not show wrinkles. I actually got carded at Disney World on my 40th birthday!!! My mom who is 65 looks like she is in her early 50's.

 

[missypie]

I guess all sports favor one body type or another at the elite level. Look at the swimmers. There are probably a lot of 5'8" male swimmers who are having a fun high school swimming career who will never make it at the elite level; they'd have to grow 8 inches. Our Olympic male gymnasts could have never made it as football players, no matter how well they liked the game as children.

We as parents have to help our children develop real and healthy expectations, given their level of skill and drive AND their body type. The huge majority of participants in every sport don't get college scholarships, don't go pro and don't compete in the Olympics. Yet they have fun, get fit, learn discipline and make friends while pursuing their interests.

Many kids are pushed by their parents to try have glorious sports careers, when it just won't happen. Some coaches and sports camps feed on this, flattering the parent and child into thinking they have more potential than they have, to get them to enroll in their programs.

 

[snoopy]

I personally feel that some of these kids start out being way too serious, way too young. I was at a gymastics meet of a niece and I heard an eight-year-old talking about her weight control diet. Eight!! All I could think is her parents must be brain-dead. I don't care if she were on the Olympic track (she wasn't, for the record); eight years old is too young to start demanding this sort of perfection.

JMO!

 

[puffkin]

We as parents have to help our children develop real and healthy expectations, given their level of skill and drive AND their body type. The huge majority of participants in every sport don't get college scholarships, don't go pro and don't compete in the Olympics. Yet they have fun, get fit, learn discipline and make friends while pursuing their interests.

I agree 100%. American sports are rapidly declining due to parents with $$ in their eyes. I am very competitive, hate to lose, and played sports in school. But I took them for what they were and had a blast playing. I learned lessons that would last a lifetime.

 

[SRUAlmn]

I think the new Subway commercial kind of rubs me the wrong way in this same sense. Have you all seen it? It's about getting your kids back in shape. Well, I agree with maybe fousing on kids being active and exercising and saying for them to live a healthy life, but the commercial seems to focus on kids losing weight. It has pictures of kids holding up pants that used to fit them like Jared. It makes comments about kids losing weight and it mentions the word 'diet.' I really don't think that's a word that young children need to focus on. Yes, yes, I know...childhood obesity is huge, but I think the focus should be on eating right and exercising and not dieting.

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by SRUAlmn
A close friend of our family and her sister went out one summer a while ago to study with Bela Karolyi (sp?) He actually looked at the parents of all the kids that came and turned some away because their parents were 'tall.' Her parents are both below 5'2" so she and her sister stayed and studied for a 2 week camp.

My daughter trained with Bela several summers and was never questioned about her tall stature. Maybe it is because my husband is friends with Bela. She was a level 9 gymnast and grew to be 5'8'' when she was 16. Her height was never a problem for her on vault, beam, or floor but was a killer on bars---too hard to swing through the bars when you are tall. She later concentrated on tumbling and trampoline and so she moved way from artistic gymnastics.

My husband was an All-American gymnast at 6'1". He went to college on a gymnastic scholarship. Yes, it's easier when you are short but not impossible.