Momma24 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 My son is 12 yo and is a level 6 gymnast. He has only been doing the sport for about 18 months. He is training only 12 hours a week. But he is a very intense gymnast. Since December his appetite has decreased dramatically. I can not get him to eat much. I am worried. Any help would be nice. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaros?aw Ruszkowski Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Maybe it's the result of overtraining? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Rodriguez Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 How have you determined that he is under eating? Is he under the regular care of a doctor who is measuring his growth and development? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connor Davies Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not sure this is the best place to be asking this question. For the most part, the people around here aren't gymnasts, but rather people who strength train using gymnastics based training. There is another excellent forum out there, ChalkBucket, which is specifically for the parents and relatives of competitive gymnasts. Obviously we'll try to help you out as best we can, but it's possible this is an issue that another parent may have some experience with. Once again, that link is http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/ Good luck with your son! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma24 Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not sure this is the best place to be asking this question. For the most part, the people around here aren't gymnasts, but rather people who strength train using gymnastics based training. There is another excellent forum out there, ChalkBucket, which is specifically for the parents and relatives of competitive gymnasts. Obviously we'll try to help you out as best we can, but it's possible this is an issue that another parent may have some experience with. Once again, that link is http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/ Good luck with your son!Thank you, I will check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankincensed Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Agree with Bipocini. It could be related or not related to gymnastics. It could be any number of things.The important thing is to get him to open up with you and discuss it in a supportive manner.We could only speculate. Anyone else can only speculate. If you can't discuss this or he won't then it may be part of a larger problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcos Mocine-McQueen Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 This is a question for a pediatrician, and an important question at that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Sommer Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 At this point, as long as he is performing well in the gym, doing well in school and sleeping well; I would not be overly concerned. It is quite normal for the appetite of young athletes to fluctuate dramatically.Yours in Fitness,Coach Sommer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Naterman Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Momma24: It is hard to say whether your son has a nutrient deficiency or not. There are nutrient deficiencies that can reduce appetite, as counter-intuitive as that seems. And, like Coach says, appetites can vary wildly. However, whenever you are concerned you should look into the matter and consider consulting a board-certified professional. More activity + less food for 2 straight months is not normal. A registered dietitian is the right person to go to. To save yourself some time, keep a food diary of what he eats for about a week, so that you can go in with the kind of information that they really need. A huge bonus for them would be knowing your son's activity schedule. That can help them make better estimates about how much food he needs. It is honestly not a good idea to seek help online for child nutrition, especially when they are highly physically active. Your son is in the middle of important developmental processes that will affect his entire future life, and I don't think it's a good idea to hope that we just happen to say the right things. I believe it is 100% worth getting a good, detailed evaluation. Some basic things to ask the RD: 1) Is your son getting enough protein? Kids need more protein, per pound of body weight, than adults do. Established recommendations are to give children greater than 2g per kg of bodyweight, per day. Basically 1g per lb of bodyweight, as a baseline level for him. Because children are growing, and human growth is pretty much the result of making more proteins, it is important for them to have enough. Fortunately kids are pretty small, so the total number is still not going to be crazy. 2) Does he or she, based on the dietary patterns your food diary has shown the RD, see potential for nutrient deficiencies? A question for you: Does your son take a daily multivitamin, and if he does is it taken with a bunch of fortified cereal and a glass of milk? The reason I am asking this is that if your son doesn't take a daily multi, you may want to consider changing that. I ask about the cereal and milk because we all have a very limited ability to absorb calcium, zinc, iron, and magnesium when they are all together. Calcium tends to block the others if there is too much of it, and between lots of dairy and the calcium that's already in the multi there may be some absorption issues of other essential minerals, so it may be a good idea to give him the multi at a meal or snack where there is not much calcium in the foods. I am curious to hear your thoughts regarding this post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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