8 Warning Signs Your Gymnast Is Struggling With Disordered Eating

Research consistently shows that disordered eating and eating disorders are far more common in gymnasts and other aesthetic sports than in the general population, yet they’re still overlooked and underplayed.

Here’s the thing: gymnastics is a sport that praises a prepubescent body, and gymnasts are highly tuned in to their own bodies. That puts them at high risk for disordered beliefs and behaviors around food and their bodies. Gymnasts are often taught that when their bodies change, it’s a failure, when in reality it’s part of becoming a young woman with the strength and power to take on this new chapter of her life.

Let’s talk about how eating disorders in gymnastics start, why there’s no “one look,” and the 8 warning signs every gymnast parent should know.

By Christina Anderson MS, RDN, CSP, CSSD · Updated October 2026

8 warning signs of disordered eating in gymnasts

1. Being chained to the scale
2. Not eating before practice
3. Tracking what she eats
4. Constantly talking about food
5. Forbidden foods
6. Gut (GI) issues
7. Only eating “safe” foods
8. Physical signs of not eating enough

If you’re seeing any of these, take it seriously and get her help early. The sooner disordered eating is caught, the better the chance of full recovery.

How eating disorders in gymnastics often start

Many coaches don’t realize the power their comments have. Even a comment of concern, like “Have you lost weight?”, can’t control how a gymnast hears it. It might just be the coach checking in, but many athletes take it as a compliment and use it to fuel the start of an eating disorder.

The same goes for comments like “You’d tumble higher if you lost a few pounds.” Many athletes’ eating disorders started with a comment like this.

This is why it is SO important to REFRAIN FROM BODY TALK.

Even the most well-meant comment can be twisted into disordered food and body image behaviors. If a coach is concerned about an athlete’s body, it’s much better to bring it to the parents instead of the athlete. That lets parents decide whether and how to share it, and it avoids reinforcing the idea that something is wrong with her body. (More in 8 Truths About the Gymnast Body and 4 Reasons Coaches Shouldn’t Tell Gymnasts to Lose Weight.)

There is no “one look” for an eating disorder

One of the biggest misconceptions is that someone has to look emaciated to have an eating disorder. That is completely inaccurate. With atypical anorexia, a person can restrict and lose weight while still looking “normal” or not underweight. Binge eating disorder is another common eating disorder that has nothing to do with being thin.

Because of this stereotype, many parents and athletes don’t connect signs like always being cold, more injuries and a drop in performance to disordered eating.

More importantly: there is NO ONE LOOK for an eating disorder.

Not being able to “see” an eating disorder is one of the main reasons so many people feel they aren’t “sick enough” for help. These are serious illnesses. Anorexia has one of the highest death rates of any mental illness. Full recovery IS possible, but it’s a hard fight, and your gymnast will need a lot of support. The earlier you spot the signs and step in, the more likely she is to recover, and the less financial and emotional stress your family will face.

When to get help

If you have any suspicion your gymnast is struggling with disordered eating, take her to her pediatrician and a registered dietitian who specializes in sports and eating disorders.

Not every pediatrician knows the subtle signs. If your parent intuition says something is off, you’re likely right. It is NOT normal for a teen gymnast to:

• Lose weight
• Fall off her growth curve (any slowing in height or weight percentiles)
• Not have her period by age 15 (see Do Gymnasts Get Periods?)

Some providers brush off concerns about food and body, or make comments about weight and BMI, because they aren’t trained in eating disorders. If that happens, find someone who is.

1. Being chained to the scale

When your gymnast becomes fixated on the number on the scale, it’s a huge red flag. If she’s weighing herself every day, or sneaking into your bathroom to do it, her self-worth may be tied to that number. You may notice her mood swing from great to awful, and that some days she eats and some days she doesn’t.

This black-and-white pattern often means she’s weighing herself daily (or more), and you may have no idea. The secrecy is a sign something deeper is going on. Tread lightly here, and it’s often best to talk with a professional first. When you do address it, back up your concerns with education: the scale is a poor way to measure health. Weight shifts a few pounds every day with hormones, sodium, water, sleep and more. Gymnasts who eat more or less based on the number fall into a cycle that hurts training, performance and recovery.

There is no performance or health reason for anyone to weigh themselves every day, much less a growing, developing high-level gymnast.

2. Not eating before practice

Some gymnasts don’t want to eat before practice because they’re worried about an upset stomach. But when an older gymnast who is very aware of her weight and shape starts restricting before practice, look into it. Often it’s about having a “flat stomach” in her leotard or seeing a lower number on the scale after practice. Comparing her body to teammates or social media influencers only adds to this mindset. Keep it on your radar if she’s refusing to fuel her workouts. (More in Why Is Your Gymnast Not Eating Before Practice?)

3. Tracking what she eats

There is absolutely no reason for a gymnast to be on a cookie-cutter meal plan from a fitness trainer or to track her macros or calories. This focus on numbers leads to extreme black-and-white thinking and, most often, underfueling. She starts to feel “good” when she hits her numbers and “bad” when she goes over. Going over often turns into “I already messed up,” eating everything, and starting the diet over the next day. That yo-yo cycle is extremely dangerous and can lead right to an eating disorder.

4. Constantly talking about food

When the brain is undernourished, it becomes VERY interested in food. It’s trying to protect her, so it does everything it can to seek out food. This can look like a fixation on food: watching food videos, finding new recipes or restaurants, or baking lots of treats for others while refusing to eat any of them. This is a big red flag for not eating enough and for rigid food rules.

5. Forbidden foods

If there are foods she loved as a kid that she now says she “can’t” eat, that’s a big sign of disordered eating. As gymnasts hit puberty, picky eating may fade and they may eat more fruits and vegetables. Parents often praise this, thinking she’s just eating healthier. But there’s a big difference between adding nutrition while still enjoying fun foods, and refusing ALL fun foods while saying she “just doesn’t like them anymore.” That kind of rigidity is often a sign she’s following a diet, a set of food rules or a social media influencer.

6. Gut (GI) issues

If your gymnast complains of constipation, belly pain or bloating, look closely at her eating. A GI doctor may run tests, and if they come back normal, recommend an elimination diet or call it anxiety-related IBS. That is often the farthest thing from what she needs.

Her GI issues may be coming from underfueling and REDs and anxiety, which slow digestion. When gymnasts cut out foods and replace them with lots of protein and vegetables, it can look like plenty of food, but it isn’t enough energy. Once nutrition is restored, the gut can heal and digestion usually returns to normal. (More in Gymnast Stomach Issues.)

A dietitian who specializes in sports and eating disorders can evaluate her intake and work with her physicians to find the cause.

7. Only eating “safe” foods

This is similar to forbidden foods, but more extreme. If your gymnast only eats a handful of “safe” foods, like rice cakes, chicken, vegetables or nuts, and cuts out dairy, gluten, sugar or fats, it’s a big red flag for anxiety around food and restrictive eating. It’s normal to eat a wide variety of foods in different settings (home, restaurants, prepared foods) without guilt, shame or anxiety. Gymnasts who are struggling often refuse to eat out or eat anything when they can’t know exactly how it was made and what’s in it.

8. Physical signs of not eating enough

Dieting and disordered eating often lead to REDs, relative energy deficiency in sport. This underfueling often starts with “cleaning up her diet” or following an influencer’s meal plan. Signs include:

• Mood swings (crying one minute, angry the next)
• A lost or missing period
• Exhaustion
• Poor performance or not progressing in training
• Always being cold
• Slowing growth

How to help your gymnast

Eating disorders are serious, but there are often clear warning signs that her relationship with food and her body is struggling. In gymnastics, these struggles often grow from praise of a prepubescent body and constant body talk from coaches or parents, plus comparison to teammates and influencers. For a teen, food can feel like one of the few things she can control.

If you see any of these signs:

• Start with her pediatrician to rule out medical concerns.
• Add a registered dietitian who specializes in sports and eating disorders.
• Add a therapist. At the end of the day, it is not about the food. Recovery means working through what’s underneath the fear and anxiety around food and body image.
• Call for support. The National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline (866-662-1235) can help you find treatment and resources.

Treatment is an investment, but it’s well worth giving your gymnast the best chance at a full life free from her eating disorder. And even if she quits the sport, the eating disorder won’t simply go away. That’s why it’s so important to act early.

Frequently asked questions

Get help for your gymnast

If you’re worried your gymnast may have an eating disorder, please start with her pediatrician, who can connect you with an eating disorder treatment team.

For gymnasts who aren’t struggling with an eating disorder but need help fueling for their training, start with our free masterclass or take the free Gymnast Fueling Quiz. And The Balanced Gymnast® Program is our 1:1 program, built by a former gymnast, nationally rated NCAA/USAG judge and pediatric sports dietitian who lives and breathes this sport. We build her plan around HER training and the foods she actually likes, so she can close the recovery gap each and every day.