No-one mentioned moulding body types - infact imho its much better to spot girls not putting on weight ( those who have issues are infact very good at hiding their weight loss until it becomes serious) - no-one in the gym has ever been critisized for being overweight, however there are a couple of parents we are keeping an eye on as they send negative images to their children (always on diets, worried about looks etc). I know that the coach has refused to train girls who have turned up for sessions with no food or drink and even taken them to the shop and bought them food herself!
Maybe it does very much depend where you are, we are a small rural club with long-time members (most have been there forever) - no-one seems to take issue with taking your children to be weighed and measure annually at the doctors ? Is the context the problem ? Just curious, maybe we are just more laid back about things here ?
(Please don't take any of this personally, I'm sure your coaches and gym are really supportive and encourage healthy habits. I'm not trying to say your gym is setting all the girls up for eating disorders and is the sole cause. I just want to share my personal experiences that make me question whether that makes a difference.)
I just think it's really difficult to draw the line. While your team isn't supporting girls dieting and not eating and losing weight (which is really great!) you're still measuring them. Maybe with the younger girls they won't get it, but as an older girl I know I'd have really struggled, especially when I was 13 and 14. I didn't hit 5 feet until the end of high school after I stopped competitive gym for 2 years. That height combined with puberty made every pound I gained show. Of course I was training L 10 this whole time so I know now it was all muscle, but I didn't feel that way at the time. My mom has my body type, has never dieted in her life (I don't think?) and is super active and healthy with skiing and biking and kayaking and everything else. We were never told anything at all about our body size. I ended up a gymnast and my sister is a competitive ballet dancer. I had minor body image issues as a teenager, I know my sister has struggled with them a lot worse.
And I'm from a very rural mountain town and have to drive over a 12,000 ft above sea level pass to get to my gym (not a single USAG gym in my county which is the size of some small states almost), which was in another small mountain town. It wasn't a big club gym it was run through the town recreation district and I trained there from the age of 5 until I was 18 and when I'm home I still go back to volunteer coach. So I feel you on gyms in small rural places being different than gyms in big towns in some respects, but that has nothing to do with girls and body image issues.
I'm not saying at all that what your gym does will make all the girls anorexic or bulimic in 5 years. I'm just saying is by the time girls are teenagers it's hard enough to deal with body image issues, we're bombarded by them in the media. The competitive perfectionist attitude that makes gymnast successful only makes this 100 times worse! There's no reason at all to toy with that regardless of your goals being really positive (the road to hell is paved with the best intentions right?) In my opinion getting measured in front of your team in a leo (or maybe in regular clothes I don't know how it works with your team) makes girls aware of body size and makes them realize that the people around them they trust care about it- or why else would they be measuring. I know girls with EDs that are really skinny. When someone comments negatively on how skinny they are they just use this as motivation to become skinnier. No matter how positive your environment is (I'm seriously not doubting this) otherwise this alone could very likely tip the scales towards eating disorders or other body image issues in the future.
I mean all the stories say Christy Henrich got told by a single judge she'd do better if she were skinnier. That one single comment sent her into a horrific 5 year battle with anorexia that her supportive family, friends and doctors couldn't help her with and eventually took her life. That's not a risk I'd be willing to take with my niece, sister, friend or future children that's for sure.
