ATLANTA — Being diagnosed with scoliosis at a young age can seriously impact an adolescent’s self-esteem. Teens often feel self-conscious and vulnerable about their appearance, making them want to isolate themselves from their peers.
The most common form of scoliosis is Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis, according to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. It primarily occurs between ages 11 and 18 and can impact 3% of children. For boys at this age, a slight curve is likely to develop; however, for girls, Children’s said a severe curve in the spine is seven to eight times more likely to progress.
An all-girls international peer group, Curvy Girls, recognizes this disparity and has got each other’s back as they support one another through their experience with scoliosis while also bringing awareness to the stigma surrounding the condition.
Curvy Girls Scoliosis of Atlanta is led by 15-year-old group leader Elizabeth Gates, who has made it her mission to ensure every curvy girl feels confident throughout their diagnosis.
In 2020, Gates became a group member after a growth spurt led her to develop a severe S-curve in her spine. She was diagnosed with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis, and by April 2021, she underwent major spinal fusion surgery.
Joining Curvy Girls helped Gates realize that having scoliosis was “nothing to be ashamed of” because, throughout her journey, she was never alone.
“I felt comfort in knowing that there were girls who had gone through the same thing that I had and who were doing great,” Gates said. “It was nothing that I did. It was just something that was part of me that I can now use to connect with others and to help others out.”
By Spring 2022, Gates took on the position as group leader for the Atlanta chapter, and she told 11Alive that since then, her scoliosis is no longer a day-to-day challenge. Still, now, it is her job to ensure that other curvy girls get the same support she did when she needed it most.
“Being able to lead them through connecting with other girls, learning life skills and coping techniques and being able to just express their feelings and emotions, and have somebody who will listen to them and validate how they're feeling and just understand on a deeper level – I think that that's really, really powerful and has definitely been a change factor for me,” she explained.
She is also raising awareness of the condition because she said the scoliosis community still receives a lot of stigmas, and it is important for friends, family and community members to be aware of the condition, so they know how to support those around them with the condition properly.
“A lot of girls with scoliosis are really ashamed and feel like they have to hide the condition because it's like, physically transforming. You'll see girls with uneven hips and uneven shoulders, or you might be able to see the faint outline of a torso brace underneath their shirt. So I think erasing some of that stigma, just like with anything, is really important,” Gates said.
Curvy Girls of Atlanta support each other at monthly meetings, hospital visits and other scoliosis-related events and activities. Currently, these meetings are held over zoom to mitigate covid-19 exposure, but Gates still encourages any girl in Atlanta living with this condition to join.