Do eating disorders run rampant in sports like gymnastics and ice skating?
From what I’ve seen and heard, unfortunately the answer is yes. Sports like gymnastics, ice skating, ballet, and also wrestling are practically breeding grounds for disordered eating patterns. I mean, what do you expect when you are in a sport where your success depends heavily upon how light you are so that you can fit into this or that weight class or so that you can jump higher? It also doesn’t help that you are in skin tight clothing or leotards during practices and competitions, not to mention that with ballet you are in a room full of mirrors. I was fortunate enough that when I was in gymnastics I had some great coaches so that never really triggered the eating disorder much. Sports like those above may not cause eating disorders to develop alone, but they can easily trigger them, especially if you have medal-happy coaches and/or parents. More education needs to be spread to gyms and training centers all around to get coaches, directors, and parents to understand just how an eati
