The trend of Chinese female pairs skaters

[tulip]

http://goldenskate.com/articles/2002/gallery/jw_33.shtml

Ding looks so emaciated and sickly. And she's 19 (or almost). Pretty scary.

This is quite the trend coming out of China.

[Germanice]

I agree and it scares me. Miss Ding looks even worse than Miss Pang. Whenever I see the latter on TV I get the irresistible impulse to drag her to Burger King and order some Triple Whoopers.

Anke

[candace]

I agree with the both of you. Both of them look sickly. They need to gain some weight. Ding looks so sickly. I would like to feed them some good pasta so that they can gain some weight. Pong is not as bad looking as Ding. I think Pong could gain some weight too. Not as much as Ding.

[RobinA]

I think Pang looks like she should be in a hospital somewhere hooked up to an IV. The weird thing is that the skater who will turn out to be the mother of Chinese pair skating, Shen, does not look like this at all. She is known for her strength, which these other girls can't hope to match if they don't get some food.

[dbny]

As bad as they may look to us, we really can't be the judges of their actual physical strength and health, since we have no firsthand experience.

My younger daughter used to be frighteningly thin, but was extremely healthy and strong. I think if she had been on a course of practice as difficult as the elite skaters are on, she would have remained stick thin. Her fingers are still like toothpicks and she is still below average weight. I used to worry until I saw a pic of her paternal grandfather, whose build she very obviously inherited.

[Aussie Willy]

I think people forget that the Chinese have a lighter body type than the Western body type. They are more naturally inclined to be skinny than what is culturally accepted in the west and they do have different dietry habits. I always felt Pang was thin, but I never thought she look unhealthy - I really do think it is her body type. And if she was really unhealthy she could not skate with the strength and speed that her and her partner show. As a question, does anyone know if she suffers much in the way of stress fractures which could be evidence of thin bone density which some unhealthy underweight people suffer.

I have friends who no matter how much they eat never put on weight and have to put up with all sorts of comments about how they must have an eating disorder.

As an aside, Pang Ding Pong Dang Ping Dong - just could not resist.

[Trillian]

I've always thought these girls looked quite thin--but I've also heard from someone who spent time with the Chinese team at their training site that they were definitely present and eating at mealtimes. In fact, when I made a reference to Pang's size, this person replied that she'd Pang at more meals than any of the other girls. And as for other types of eating disorders, bulimia doesn't tend to lead to extreme thinness; when it has become that extreme, it would probably majorly hinder any kind of athletic career (which, if there is a problem at all here, doesn't seem to be happening so far). All that leads me to think that there may not be a serious problem here (or at least not with Pang; I don't know a thing about Ding). If there is, someone's obviously been controlling it to some degree, because Pang has been competing at the international level for at least five or six seasons now, and she's always been that thin. You can't sustain an eating disorder and an elite athletic career for that long.

[RobinA]

Thin and strong is one thing. I was a stick myself until I was 35. However, I see a lot of evidence in Pang's skating that she lacks the strength she needs.

Look at Chinese gymnasts. They are light women who do not look like they are starving. They are well-muscled and strong. I don't know how much Pang eats or whether she has a problem. I just see a painfully thin girl who seems to struggle with strength issues during her performances.

This especially annoys me because Tong is my favorite of the Chinese male skaters, I love the way he moves, his expression, and his line. I wish Pang would come up to his level and they could be a great pair. I just hope that the reasons that she is NOT at his level are not that she is starving herself or is ill.

[tulip]

Originally posted by Trillian
You can't sustain an eating disorder and an elite athletic career for that long.

Wanna make a bet? Christine Hough had a long, long career even though she had an eating disorder. There have been others too.

[WeBeEducated]

I think Pang looks unhealthy, but I also understand that it could simply be her body type. I also think that eating disorders are much more common in the USA, and almost unheard of in some countries. It is not common at all in china.
The one I am worried about is the 13 year old icedancer from Detroit that trains with Igor. I have never seen a teenager so underweight and because she is in Detroit I have to wonder if she is deliberately starving herself.
8O

[tulip]

Originally posted by WeBeEducated
I think Pang looks unhealthy, but I also understand that it could simply be her body type. I also think that eating disorders are much more common in the USA, and almost unheard of in some countries. It is not common at all in china.


Eating disorders are EVERYWHERE. This is not just a USA problem.

[Artemis]

A question for the mods: aren't speculations about skaters' personal lives were frowned upon here? And if so, shouldn't "I think so-and-so has an eating disorder" speculations fall into that category? IMO, these sorts of rumours can be even more damaging than conjectures about who is dating whom.

[WeBeEducated]

It has been documented that eating disorders like anorexia are most common in the western world and frequently in girls from higher income families, or girls involved with dance, gymnastics, or skating.
I dont think you will find many cases of self inflicted starvation in Asia, East Asia, Africa,Central America, etc.
sure, there may be a few cases, but this is a modern, western world syndrome that many look at as a bizarre form of self indulgence that backfires.

[missmarysgarden]

I think if you will look at the research, you will find that eating disorders are associated with closely with women's physical activities of the "performance" type, i.e., skating, gymnastics, dance, body building (yup - even with all those muscles - some of the most severe diet manipulation you can imagine), and that while extreme underweight through severe intentional calorie restriction and diet manipulation and/or extreme "work-out addiction" is more common in Western cultures when compared to the rest of the world - the same is not true when you look at the population world-wide who are involved in these sports. With this I would include some track events, particularly long/longer distance running.

I do have concerns about Pang and Ding. I think they look emaciated - as contrasted with some of my very, very tiny Vietnamese friends, who look buff, properly proportioned and healthy even at 90 pounds. In other words, muscle definition supporting the skin is evident.

I'm accustomed to looking for the signs because I coached gymnastics for 20 years, and have been a gymnastics judge for almost 30 years. There is a difference. Admitting that I could be wrong, I do have concerns about these skaters - understand that I feel CONCERNED - I am not making accusations or criticizing them as individuals. It's just hard to look at them without going "OUCH"!

[lilpairsk8ter]

To me Ding does look very emaciated from what i can tell of the photo.
I am a former pairs skater who is in recovery from Anorexia and Bulimia and just to let you know it is very possible to compete at a very high level and still be engaging in eating disorder behavior. Eating disorders are common in other parts of the world besides just the United States. I am concerned about the health of both Ding and Pang and hope they will gain some weight.

Also if you are reading this and fear that you might have an eating disored please seek the proper treatment that you need. If you or someone you know has an eating disordre or if you have any questions for me please feel free to ask and i will be more than happy to help you. I am also willing to share my story about my battle with my eating disored if anyone would like to hear it.

Also please realize that you do not have to look sick to have an eating disored eating disoreders are not about food and weight they are about psychological problems.

sorry if i got a bit off topic but i felt lead to share and maybe help someone out there

[missmarysgarden]

You are very generous to speak out, lilpairsk8ter. Eating disorders are very complicated, and as you know well, associated with perfectionism, high level achievement, compulsive behaviours like extreme neatness or ritual in dressing, eating, etc. Those with eating disorders often exemplify the traits that we admire so much in our children - success, neatness, punctuality, popularity, athleticism - but when done to excess, distortion of body image, and the frantic desire to control not only appearance, but many other aspects of environment, sometimes leads to manipulation of food intake to the point of self-destruction.

Yes, I worry about some of the skaters. I have been around anorexic young women over the years (including my sister), and I am somewhat sensitized to some of the appearances associated with anorexia/bulemia, including a kind of grey pallor, growth of downy hair on the body and face, bad teeth, thin and brittle hair. Taken together, it just sort of jumps out at you when you have seen these poor young women waste away. It's tragic. Call it when you see it. You might save a life - even yours.