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December 07, 2005

Weighing in on High School Wrestling

High school athletics are demanding students to reach professional grade constraints as certain physical expectations are necessities to participate in specific sports. Wrestling is actually holding the most emphasis on these requirements while football, cheerleading, gymnastics and figure skating also round out this category.

Though competition is beneficial to a teenager’s development, the steps that must be taken to achieve this level of competitiveness may not be worth it. Pediatricians say that the rapid weight gain/loss that a teenager goes through when trying to secure a weight class is not healthy and could be damaging as risks of eating disorders, dehydration and cardiovascular problems exist.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, it’s the doctors’ obligation to give guidance to both teenagers and coaches regarding the dangers involved in these weight gain/loss efforts. The problem lies in that there are more factors than just the athletes, parents and coaches. The media may be the most influential factor as advertisers encourage the use of diet pills, nutritional supplements and diuretics while these products are readily available to teenage athletes. I guess we can add sports to the list of reasons why this world is so obsessed with dieting and weight management.

Posted by Ryan Michael at December 7, 2005 04:11 PM

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