Parents does gymnastics delay puberty?

[profmom]

My oldest son has his appointment soon with the endocrinologist to see why he still hasn't gotten really going with puberty yet. He's sixteen. He's not the gymnast and has the highest BMI of any of my kids.

Age of parents when they reached puberty is a big factor here. Both me and DH were late late late growers, but we expect that there will be individual variation as well. If I had to guess, I'd guess eldest will be very very late, DD will be very late, and youngest son will be a little late. I'd worry more about early puberty than late.

 

[OzZee]

What is the worry of late puberty?
I've always hoped between genetics and low BMI dd can make it until at least 16 to get her period and hopefully even later.

 

[B&M's mom]

Late puberty seems to put kids at risk of having more growth related injuries. As a parent who's DD is having late puberty, it's no fun. She's finally growing but her body is condensing into a shorter time period what most kids go through over several years. Combined with gymanstics she's having injuries that if she had gone through puberty on the typical timeframe, she probably won't.

 

[gracyomalley]

I will say that the strength that comes with puberty (the whole time for boys and in the early stages and after its done for girls) does help with injury prevention in any high intensity sport, while there is a phase during puberty, esp for girls and the slower growing boys, where they are prone to more injuries...basically growing up "early" is hard, and "late"....I would say that any child in any sport who is falling outside the familial norm (even if not in a sport, for that matter), should be evaluated at some point.

It also depends a great deal on stress and nutrition - for some kids 20 hours a week with good rest and nutrition and no pressure will not be an issues - but for another that may be too much. I know that as a swimmer, during later puberty I really struggled to make any athletic headway - no matter how hard I pushed - just another indication that their young bodies need some "forgiveness" at these times, and if that's not given it could lead to issues.

I've insisted on extra sleep and food for my pubertal kids, and a school schedule that accommodates their late nights at gym (and orchestra for my 15 year old) - for us that means homeschooling and attending a proficiency based high school that allows kids to be creative in their schedules while still being fully accredited and NCAA approved - can't imagine my DD up at 530 to catch a 600 bus to middle school after her 20 hours a week of gym....so its may be the balance more than gym only...

 

[OrangeArt]

Not much to add that hasn't been said, but I'll throw out there that my daughter is sort of on track for puberty at the same time I was (I was 10.5 with my period). She is 10yo, 4'9 75lbs, just starting to develop up top, and some darker "fluff" hair wise. Ped says she should start menses around 11yo. I freaked out a little when I heard that (I'm not ready! )

 

[Quadqueen]

My DD was doing nearly 20 hours a week and level 8, and had been doing gym for years when she got her period just shy of 11.5 - much younger than I was. There's not an ounce of fat on her, but she's always been tall for her age and quite muscular, so heavier than your typical tiny gymnast.

 

[ascarter1]

I was actually going to post this same question this week. I have been concerned about DD's slow growth during the last year or so and wondering if it was gymnastics-related. She competed L7 this winter/spring/ with 16 hrs/week training. She's now 12 yr 3 mos old and 70 lbs/ 4'8", which dropped her down to 6% for height on growth chart, whereas she was tracking 20% through age 10. Doc had her do the wrist bone x-ray to see if there was a delayed bone aging but it's right at 12...so she doesn't have 'extra bone growing years' in the bank. Her doc (old school, wonderful female pediatrician who's seen it all in her 35+ years of practice) says her experience has been that hard core runner and gymnast patients who have lean builds to start don't have the body fat they need to kick puberty into gear and it gets stretched out. Could be a coincidence, but a bone fracture plus family travel kept DD's gym hours very limited for 6 weeks earlier this summer,and guess what, during that time she actually gained 3 lbs and a whole inch!

My older dd (just turned 14), and most females in my family (as well as my husband's sister/her two DD's ) started their periods at age 11-12, yet gymnastics DD has no typical signs of puberty yet...

I come from a tall family and am the only (relatively) short person at 5'4"; my sis is 6" taller than me. DH's sister/mom/nieces are only 5'2", and I figured that's why my DD's are more petite... older DD (just turned 14) is 5'3" and likely done growing...and gymnast DD is 4" shorter than older DD was at same age...

I have always been skeptical of the 'gymnastics can delay puberty' theory but I do see it as a plausible factor right now as it plays out in front of my eyes...next step is DD will get additional testing to rule out growth hormone or other issues...

My dd is almost exactly the same stats as yours! She is 11 yrs old, 4'9" (grew a 1.5 inches this summer) and 69 lbs on a good day. She is level 7, training 16 hrs/week. She is very lean but eats like a grown man. She is showing very few signs of puberty (although I was her age when I was blessed with mine-but I was also about 15 lbs heavier than her). Hopefully hers is years away! I'm not ready to deal with that yet!

 

[gymmomtotwo]

I think it is more genetic than anything. I always thought it was based on obtaining a certain percentage of body fat but my 5 ft 3 in 87 lb 12 year old started hers right at 12 and a few months. She is a competitive swimmer who does a lot of training, but that is her body type. I think if you artificially try to keep a kid below their natural weight with a restricted diet, that is when you would run into delayed puberty. My kid has low body fat but eats a full diet with plenty of proteins and fat. My very thin(60 lb 54 in) just turned 9 year old gymnast is just starting breast buds. It seems to follow the family pattern.

 

[AGymDad]

I always thought it was a body fat thing, but my DD was always clinically underweight with almost no body fat (she can't even float, lol!) but puberty started at 11 and her menses at 12. Whenever she consistently trains over 18-20 hours a week, though, it stops- so there is definitely a connection, even if I don't understand it.

I used to be sure that all people would float (as been told by my swimming teacher some +25 years ago)... until I tried to give DD1 (the gymnast) some swimming lessons. I'm sure she will eventually learn to swim (with professional help).
DD2 is also thin, but somehow looks different in structure: she floats like a piece of foam.

Going back to the original question: unless the training is unusually intensive (think olympic level), I don't think there would be any difference. The same question has also been raised about body size as many gymnast are tiny, but I think this mostly has to do with the trainer selections.

 

[emorymom]

Just a couple of anecdotes.

All children who have short stature should be screened with blood work for celiac disease. Delayed puberty is also a presentation of celiac. Not all doctors know this. Some generations were taught it is a fantastically rare disorder and that celiac patients are very sick, throwing up or with constant runs.

Also they have found that lower vitamin D levels are associated with earlier puberty. This may explain the differences in places like the US between the age of menarche in African descent girls vs. caucasian.

 

[Shooosh]

I had a doctor suggest that (celiac) to us once. All my girls are short. My (almost) 6 year old is only 40 inches.
I declined the test however, because all my kids are healthy, strong, and (most of the time) smart.
I am 5'2" and my husband is 5'10". Our kids aren't going to be tall. Why WOULDN'T they be short?!
That's interesting about the vitamin D though. It seems that lack of vitamin D is coming up more and more in health reports.

 

[emorymom]

I had a doctor suggest that (celiac) to us once. All my girls are short. My (almost) 6 year old is only 40 inches.
I declined the test however, because all my kids are healthy, strong, and (most of the time) smart.
I am 5'2" and my husband is 5'10". Our kids aren't going to be tall. Why WOULDN'T they be short?!
That's interesting about the vitamin D though. It seems that lack of vitamin D is coming up more and more in health reports.

Your husband is around the 50th-60th percentile for height. You're around the 20th. Your child, though, is around the 5th.

Certainly likely nothing is wrong. It's just a simple blood test though.

 

[profmom]

The questions to ask are where your child is on a growth percentile chart over time (tracking the same curve?) and when your child's biological parents went through puberty. DD flirts with being on and off the charts, but both her father and I (we're the bio parents) are above average. We're not panicking because I hit my full adult height at around age 18-19, and DH finished growing in college.

Worried pediatricians at different points have tested all of our children for celiac. Clean bills of health, thank goodness.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Just a couple of anecdotes.

All children who have short stature should be screened with blood work for celiac disease. Delayed puberty is also a presentation of celiac.
.

Very interesting! My younger DD is celiac- recently diagnosed- and I never knew this. She isn't really short- 11 and 5'2, but it's still interesting info. In my DDs case, celiac came hand in hand with Hashimotos.

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

Wow, I have cousins that were just diagnosed with Celiac. DD has had lots of flatulance since birth and we eat a high carb/wheat diet.

 

[rgmom]

I have identical twin daughters. Just turned 14, both have been doing gymnastics since they were little, and have trained an average of 20-26 hours a week. One daughter has gotten her period and one has not. Go figure.

 

[Mom2-4]

My ODD not at all an athlete regular weight started one cycle at 14 than nothing for a year also grew 7 inches in that time. Gymnast daughter started hers at 12 yrs 4 months and grew about 3 inches. Still wreaking havoc with gymnastics right now especially on bars. I wish she had her cast handstand before puberty. Grr.

 

[Ausi_poppet]

For probably 95-98% of them, no. I turned up an interesting study suggesting that the correlation between late menarche and gym could be related to later maturing girls' being more likely to stick with it.

Yes, I've read a few studies that suggest it's a bit of a "chicken and egg" debate. Girls who mature later may be naturally more talented in gymnastics, rather than gymnastics causing girls to mature later.

But, I've also seen that in my daughter's team where they all train over 20 hours a week that when one if them is injured and cuts back their training they do tend to have a growth spurt.

 

[GymCMLA]

1. it is very genetically realated, to mom or dad's sisters.
2. the "normal" range for thelarche (breast budding which is the first sign of estrogen) is 6-14 (with ethnicitiy being a factor as well)
3. typically from thelarche (first breast budding) to period is about 24 months give or take a couple months.
4. Puberty requires additional fat stores, so all kids put on "chub" in the months leading up to their growth spurt and period. (to the OP, I am not sure the 2 weeks off gym was really a big factor in the weight gain, I think it is her body preparing for puberty.)
5. adrenarche (body odor, hair growth) are not temporally related in any meaningful way with menarche (periods)

 

[wgymmom]

ODD is 12 and about 4'10" and maybe 72 lbs. She's got a little development. When you put her around other 12 year olds, she looks tiny. I was a late maturer and we'd all be fine if the girls are too.