Louise Cabral

Dear Pixiewoo, although your DD has been "a bit of a faddy eater over lockdown", it does look like she has a fairly varied diet. However, she would be wise to include all the macro-nutrients with each meal. That includes protein and some fat. If only eating fruit/veg, her carbohydrate intake would be fine, but protein and fat may be lacking. Not all fats are the same, of course, and she should opt for those that are liquid at room temperature (mono-unsaturated) and/or liquid in the fridge (poly-unsaturated), e.g. walnut oil. Opting for soya milk rather than standard diary is fine provided it is fortified with calcium. Many are. This is what I use because I have never liked the taste of diary milk. Thank you for getting back to me with your suggestions as to the types of question you'd like answered in my on-line nutrition course. I can certainly advise on amounts of carbs/protein etc for dancers doing a particular amount of dance activity per day or week, but for adults only. As reaching maturation is so varied among adolescents there are no set quantities of nutrients recommended for the diet. It is just essential to encourage adequate food intake for the dancer and to moderate the training load to ensure normal menstruation takes place. This is essential for avoiding early onset osteoporosis. This is not uncommon among dancers. Best wishes, Louise

Thanks so much for all your thoughts and considerations on my project. I agree that eating issues do start young with dancers. For girls it is usually around the time of reaching menarche and the changes that brings in hormones and body composition and for good reason. As a passionate young dancer my own experience with eating abnormalities began at that time. i certainly agree that when eating disorders or abnormalities are found to be an issue all dancers whether professional, pre-professional or recreational, should see a registered dietician for personal assistance with their own unique needs. i would certainly advise this. I am not a registered dietician but can advise in more general terms from an evidence-based scientific perspective and help individuals to sort the hype surrounding diet in the general media from reliable thoroughly researched nutritional information. It is this information I would want to make available and workable in my on-line course. Please let me know the kinds of questions you would want answered in such a course. Your input would be extremely helpful. With thanks, Louise

Just to clarify, the course I am proposing would not be sponsored. There would be no banner advertisements or celebrity endorsements. Yes, it would be something you would pay for, but reasonable. I know the majority of dancers don't have a lot of spare cash. My aim would be to equip you with the tools to make sound decisions about your diet and to be able to put together your own meal plans, knowing what foods to eat and when to fuel your training and performance. The aim would be to help facilitate peak performance and avoid injury. I was trained as a dietician at King's College, London, and have an MSc in Dance Science and Medicine.

I am creating an on-line nutrition course for dancers. Would there be interest in this, and what would you like this course to include? I come from a dance science and medicine background and worked as a journalist and dance critic. I aim to make the science behind all the nutritional advice easy to understand and to apply to your everyday food choices. It's not quantity, but quality of calories that matters. Eating should be a pleasure, not a torment.