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DT Article on Ballet and Eating Disorders


Nana Lily

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I seem to remember at the recent Elmhurst auditions the head nurse telling us that they weigh the children once a week and keep an eye on what they eat in the bistro. I could be wrong but that is what I had in my head.

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A person with the eating disorder known as Anorexia Athletica (where excessive exercising is involved in addition to calorie restriction) can go downhill really quickly; within a few weeks an already thin person can become dangerously ill. In my respectful opinion, termly measuring is too infrequent. Students should also be weighed in body-hugging clothes without pockets so that they cannot hide things or wear heavy clothes in order to deceive the person doing the weighing that s/he weighs more than s/he actually does (it's a fact that people suffering from an eating disorder go to extreme lengths to hide their problem).

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Nana Lily, I can't be bothered to post on this topic any more if you're just going to be rude. Why do the schools weigh the students if it's so obvious when they are losing weight? I don't know what point you were trying to make anyway? You just referred to someone else's article without saying anything else.

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I'm glad Nana Lily posted the article; it's certainly given rise to some vigorous discussion!

 

I'd be very interested to hear about nutrition strategies at other schools like Central, RBS Upper School etc. if anyone knows.

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Aileen, I have never heard of anorexia athletica, thankyou for high lighting that for us all. Nana Lily was it so necessary to say get a grip to another persons contribution to this discussion, she is entitled to give her oppinion just as you are. At Tring the girls are also weighed in their leotards to ensure that they are not losing weight, their height is also measured. I do have to say that at Tring they do try to look after the children, especialy in this area.

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Aileen is correct that people suffering from eating disorders will go to great extremes to hide it, but equally weekly weigh-ins for children of this age can leed to an unhealthy obsession with weight, and I expect that this is why Elmhurst weighs once a term.

 

As Nana points out, the fact that the students are working in leotards most of the time means that the teachers can visually keep an eye on students bodies and raise the alarm if someone seems to be loosing too much weight.

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At Central they have lessons on nutrition which must be presented in a good way as my very fussy eater dd has subsequently told me she is trying various new foods because of the lessons. No weighing is done but as tutors see students in leotards every day they do spot any weight changes quite quickly and my dd has told me of several girls taken off dance until they have put weight on. I get the general feeling that although the girls all want to have the 'ideal slim' ballerina look they are very aware of the need to eat healthily and they do look out for each other so that they know amongst themselves quite quickly if one of them is starting to show worrying signs. I think incidences of actual eating disorders are probably no more (or possibly only sightly) higher amongst dancers but because they are often naturally very slim even a small weight loss from for example a viral illness can cause their BMI to drop to a level where it would be of concern and then because they are dancing full-time it can be hard for the weight to be regained. I would possibly even go so far as to say that eating disorders are probably detected earlier amongst dancers although that in no way makes dealing with them any easier.

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My dd's school does measure and weigh the children once a year. I have always felt that it was to ensure that they are not losing weight and have a baseline to monitor it by. There is a policy in place if a dancer is not eating well enough, or seems to have lost too much weight, they will be taken off dance as they could hurt themselves. The school even brought an outside nutritionist in to talk to parents, as well as the children. I was shocked at how poorly attended this was. It reassures me that the school is proactive in dealing with this issue. What scares me the most is the loyalty the children have to each other when they know someone is suffering because they see them avoiding food or hear them being sick but don't want to tell on them. It means it can take longer for the problem to come to light. Education in this area is vital.

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At my dd's school they are weighed once a term but the students are not allowed to see the weight on the scales so that nobody worries if they are heavier or lighter than other people in their year. if the teachers notice a change in the students it is dealt with straight away xx

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I remember nutrition talks way back in my days at Hammond. In my experience vocational ballet schools do take it very seriously and my DS has been weighed regularly as well as girls.

 

One of my friends DD was barred from dancing my the medical staff at Tring until she was a safe weight.

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Does anyone know how the vocational schools manage those children whose weight might dip below healthy? I know they stop them from dancing but how do they get them back up to a healthy weight? I ask because I have one of those naturally very thin children (with a perfectly healthy appetitie/attitude to food and a normal 11 year old's love of chocolate!) but I have quietly monitored her BMI especially during a couple of recent growth spurts and her weight has a couple of times gone very close to the underweignt end of healthy. This has been fairly easy for me to remedy at home (changing to full fat milk seems to have been the key) but I am worried that with a daily dance programme at vocational school plus amybe more growth spurts this may be a reoccuring issue.

Thanks in advance for anyexperience/advise.

Angela

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I would say that, if a student can just be persuaded to gain weight by being told that s/he can't dance, s/he does not really have an eating disorder. A person with a true eating disorder cannot be reasoned with in this way. S/he has huge anxiety about eating and mealtimes become enormously fraught, prolonged affairs. A school could not deal with this and would have to send the student home for specialist care. The reason for weighing students in body-hugging clothes (leotards at Tring) is to prevent them from putting stones and other heavy objects in pockets, shoes etc which would give a false reading on the scales (this does happen). As for loyalty to friends, I would tell my DD or DS that s/he must tell someone if s/he is concerned; the mortality rate for eating disorders is frighteningly high.

 

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I think true eating disorders at the schools are rare - and I have known students who have been sent home while they have local treatment, successfully I'm pleased to say.

 

Aileen - just out of interest, do you have some expertise in this area?

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So, it seems that the vocational schools for the most part are aware and trying to deal with this problem. But, it still leaves the companies as possible problem areas. I'm still seeing a lot of very skinny dancers.

 

Another thought...for the girls after puberty - when (at what point during their cycle) they are weighed could make quite a difference.

 

As I understand it, someone with a true eating disorder its not just a physical problem but also a psychological one - which has to be monitored lifelong. It's like a reverse addiction.

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I think there is a huge difference between anorexia nervosa which is a psychiatric condition that requires long term specialist intervention, and "eating disorders" that can be prevalent amongst pubescent and teenage girls (and boys). My daughter is at a highly academic grammar school and even within her peer group there is pressure to become involved in "competitive" dieting and over exercising in order to be the thinnest. None of her peers are dancers so pressures to be thin and distorted body image are not confined to the ballet/dance community. It's not to say that developing an abnormal relationship with food for whatever reason won't escalate into a diagnosible disorder, but anorexia nervosa is far more complex than just stopping eating.

Edited by Kitschqueen_1
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JulieW, I don't have "expertise" in a professional capacity as such, but a young person (not a dancer but at boarding school) whose parents I know well is recovering from a serious eating disorder. I just wanted to make the point that a true eating disorder (or whatever you want to call it) is, as Kitschqueen says, way beyond just eating less, wanting to be thinner, competitive dieting etc.

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I agree that worries about weight/body image and associated food issues are not the same thing as suffering from Anorexia or Bulimia. I do believe though that if you have a fussy eating, body conscious teenager, it's as well to just keep an eye on things to make sure that if anything serious does develop, it's spotted as quickly as possible.

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My dd lost some weight over Christmas due to an illness. When she went back to ballet her teacher noticed straight away and asked me if things were ok , which was very reassuring. The doctor wanted to know how much weight she had lost but I was unable to tell him as I had no idea what she weighed before. For a while I felt bad about that but as a normal healthy child living at home there was no need to weigh her.

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Spannerandpony, I agree with you. It's wise to be vigilant.

 

Anjuli_Bai, I was recently shocked by the appearance of a dancer in a UK ballet company. Even by the standards of ballet dancers she seemed dreadfully thin.

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I agree with discreet monitoring but I think as mother's we also need to look at the messages we give our children about food and dieting.

I know that in the past I have been guilty of constantly grumbling about my weight, going on fad diets for quick short term weight loss prior to holiday's, big nights out etc before falling back into previous bad habits and grumbling all over again.

I am now consciously trying not to do this following a minor scare with my DD at the beginning of last year. Instead I role model healthy eating and moderate exercise but I do sometimes feel I am fighting a losing battle when she is constantly being bombarded by messages in the media that skinny=successful, never mind the pressure she receives from other sources.

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A teacher colleague of mine who is studying dance science is currently doing some research into eating habits at one of the vocational schools. There is a questionnaire that pupils can fill in which possibly raises some concerns in students that might 'slip through the net' otherwise. Points to note though is that one cannot use the term 'eating disorder' unless diagnosed by a medical professional. Many people, in many walks of life, have disordered eating patterns, but very rarely is it given a clinical diagnosis. My colleague has done a lot of research in this area and interestingly, one other dance school (also vocational) do NOT take pupils off dance if they suspect a problem, as this actually increases the pupils' depression and reduces the amount of control they have over their day to day life. Rather, they intervene in an appropriate way with counselling etc. Eating disorders are all about control - any person who feels like they have no control over their life is vulnerable to an eating disorder. The research so far does seem to hint that they are no more common in dance than in any other walk of life.

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Not exactly linked to weight loss, but the RB Upper School this year have insisted that all students that joined the 1st year in September have a blood test for vitamin D levels. They are going to be monitoring this in the current 1st years. They are doing this to see if there is any correlation between bone stress injuries and vitamin D deficiency.

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Not exactly linked to weight loss, but the RB Upper School this year have insisted that all students that joined the 1st year in September have a blood test for vitamin D levels. They are going to be monitoring this in the current 1st years. They are doing this to see if there is any correlation between bone stress injuries and vitamin D deficiency.

 

This makes perfect sense to me as vitamin D is essential for bone health eg rickets was directly linked to vitamin D deficiency. Will they send pupils with low levels on a holiday to sunnier climes? :D

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Anjuli_Bai, I was recently shocked by the appearance of a dancer in a UK ballet company. Even by the standards of ballet dancers she seemed dreadfully thin.

 

If you watch a video of Margot Fonteyn - one sees a gorgeous dancer - while certainly slender - also is shapely. Her legs have a shape - the curve of the thigh and the calf add to the beauty of her line. She looks normal. One doesn't gasp in horror at a stringy body - one gasps in appreciation of the beauty of her shapely line. Same is true for Maya Plisetskaya and Galina Ulanova. No one would call those ladies in any way large - but they look normal and DANCE large.

 

I also don't like this trend of not wearing tights for ballet. Somehow that idea of angular, stringy, ropelike legs is being put forward as beautiful. Frankly, I don't understand it.

 

Although humans use food for a number of purposes - like celebrations, holidays, rewards, etc., - it is bsically fuel. The body needs fuel to dance. If for no other reason the dance student has to realize - garbage in - garbage out - likewise llittle in - little out.

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As a former head of year in a girl's school, dealing with eating disorders was an all too frequent aspect of my job, with the appropriate authorities involved of course.

 

My feeling is that vocational schools do recognise the problem exists and have good procedures in place (which may vary from school to school) to deal with it. As has been pointed out, in vocational ballet schools, hiding your physique is well nigh impossible.

 

Whereas in non-vocational schools it is much easier to hide the problem and it can get pushed under the carpet. The issue of eating disorders goes much further than vocational schools.

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Just wanted to say what a fascinating discussion this has been. I do get concerned for our young people today, when images of beauty, talent and artistry show such extreme thinness. It's been encouraging to read that it is an issue that those looking after our young people, in whatever capacity, are aware of. But it still makes me edgy, if you know what I mean...

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I would like to thank all those who have contributed to this thread, shared their experiences, schools policies, opinions and concerns. As parents and carers of young dancers it is a topic that should be visited and not swept under the carpet and this thread has provided good information and discussion. As we approach the Easter break the forum may become quieter (or maybe not). So I wish you all a good Easter Holiday and may you all enjoy your chocolate!

 

NL

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