Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Children's health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Sporty gymnast daughter, arrested puberty

9 replies

Zzzexhaustedzzz · 05/12/2020 20:29

Any experience, ideas or advice? My daughter is 15.5. She’s a keen gymnast, in competitions and training 9 h a week in normal times. Periods began before 14. Slower development than my older daughter but differences happen naturally..
Gym stopped during first lockdown but they were set daily challenges and she managed to stay as fit as ever. She missed her gym friends a lot though. Gym started up again with less hours when lockdown eased both the first and second times. Anyway, her periods stopped in March and she hasn’t had one since! No other symptoms eg pain. She appears to be eating ok, very healthy, very slim. We went to the docs recently and she said she will see her again in January. Weighed and measured, she’s only just classes as average BMI for her age as in on the cusp of being underweight. Her height and breast development are less than her sister too, almost like she has stopped developing? I don’t want to worry too much but not clear on what this could mean.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Sunmoonstars77 · 05/12/2020 21:38

Try not to worry too much. Things can sometimes be erratic at this age. She sounds a healthy girl and active etc.

1940s · 05/12/2020 21:50

She needs more calories

goldenharvest · 05/12/2020 21:54

Not unusual at all for gymnasts and runners. Provided you are sure she hasn't an eating disorder and eats well, it's just her.

PlanDeRaccordement · 05/12/2020 21:59

Not unusual for female athletes. I was a long distance runner and cyclist at your DDs age and my periods stopped completely due to low body fat %. Also, breasts are mostly made of fat and so the less body fat you have, the smaller your breasts will be. Once she stops competing and her body fat % gets higher, periods start back up and breasts fill out.

FoodieToo · 06/12/2020 17:09

Our son was a competitive gymnast until last year . He did it for 12 years but he was tying up to 26 hours per week !!
Was 15 when he decided he had us enough and only then did puberty start . We really believe his body was too exhausted to grow .

Zzzexhaustedzzz · 06/12/2020 17:39

Hi - Thanks for your replies, hadn’t thought about boys also experiencing this.
I’m as sure as I can be that there’s no eating disorder.
And she isn’t pregnant!

OP posts:
FoodieToo · 06/12/2020 17:53

Obviously thy should say ‘training’.

LeGrandBleu · 06/12/2020 18:42

Periods are linked to body fat%. If too low, body can't have healthy pregnancy and this is why periods stop. You can calculate her body fat % here fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy

SnowmanDrinkingSnowballs · 06/12/2020 19:12

@PlanDeRaccordement

Not unusual for female athletes. I was a long distance runner and cyclist at your DDs age and my periods stopped completely due to low body fat %. Also, breasts are mostly made of fat and so the less body fat you have, the smaller your breasts will be. Once she stops competing and her body fat % gets higher, periods start back up and breasts fill out.
I think it’s a bit naive to just assume her body will adapt if she reduces training in the future. This could have a long term impact on her health. She needs to decide how serious she wants to be about gym, ie just a hobby or her whole life. If it isn’t going to be her whole life I for one would be encouraging her to build up her body fat to put her more safely into the normal range.
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread