Question for gym mums -height and development

[popmimiboo]

Any mums of artistic gymnasts out there?
My girls are 13 and 9 and absolute gymnast addicts!

DD2 has been training 10 hours a week since September (6 hours a week from age 6-8.) She is very strong and has quite defined muscles (abs of steel.)
My GP is very pro sport and told me that as long as she doesn't seem tired, doesn't keep getting injured and is happy to go, then no worries.

However, my osteopath has told me that 10 hours intensive gym is bad for her joints, back and will stunt her growth and delay her puberty. I'm generally greeted with looks of shock, horror from friends, school mums, neighbours etc when they learn how much gym DD does.

My eldest DD only trains about 6 hours a week and is average height, slim but not skinny. No periods yet but wearing 32 A bras. So, no issue there.

So, I wanted to conduct a straw poll -if your DDs are gymnasts, how many hours do they train and do you think their training impacts on their development at all? I know a lot of elite gymnasts are very small but they train more like 20+ hours and would maybe have been small anyway.

Thoughts?

My dd only trains a few hours a week but in a gym that has lots of elite gymnasts. There are a few that are really tiny but on the whole they are a mix of shapes and sizes. The current "star" there certainly doesn't fit the small, tiny gymnast picture. Hope that makes you feel a bit better!

My daughter (11 years old) trains between 15 and 18 hours a week, she is by no means an elite gymnast (They do way more hours).

She's average height, very muscly with a defined six pack and strong shoulders.

I'm told that the research does show that the average gymnast's development is delayed by 6 months (but this catches up after they stop training).

However, it does take its toll on the body, especially when they break bones, get injuries etc. It's important to take the time out, let it heal etc...

Also, I know some coaches will look at body type when picking their gymnasts - so it's hard to say whether gymnastics stunts their growth, or they're just small because coaches tend to pick small children. I'm sure there's some research on it somewhere mind!

i am a Level3 womens artistic coach.
You have got it the wrong way round.Small thin girls are good at gymnastics (because of the laws of physics), it is not the gymnastics that makes them small and thin!!
Nine hours a week training is not much, it will not delay your child's puberty or affect her development in the slightest!