Research Question and Rationale

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A common misconception about competitive dance is that it is all sparkly costumes and spray tans. The whole community puts on a show to hide what is happening backstage; helicopter moms, ruthless instructors and constant ridicule. The constant fat shaming, yelling, and strict dieting is often too much for dancers, pushing them to crippling eating disorders. As a competitive dancer, I have seen this occur numerous times, even to some of my closest friends.

 

I have chosen this community because I believe this is a topic that is often hidden in the world of competitive dance.

This leads to an important question - how strong is the connection between competitive dance and eating disorders? This question is often pushed aside within the community to make the community that cares so much about reputation to be picture perfect. People have began to discuss this topic outside the community, as it is becoming more and more apparent that the pressure and ridicule that is hidden from the public has taken serious tolls on so many young women.

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I plan to explore this question by looking at the numerous studies that have been done that link dance and eating disorders, and interviewing my best friend on my dance team that has been in rehab for eating disorders.

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Peer Interview 

Blindly applying to eighteen out-of-state universities in the hopes that one will become your home for the next four years may seem quite overwhelming. For Sondra, a freshman at Florida State University, picking a college wasn’t that complicated. “I just randomly picked FSU,” she states, “I just wanted to go to the warmest weather.” The palm trees and warm weather are a nice change for someone who is used to freezing cold temperatures.

Born and raised in Connecticut, moving to a tropical climate such as Florida is a big adjustment. “I’m not used to there being no snow on the ground,” she says, “and everyone here is very southern.” Sondra was worried about fitting in and making new friends, until she received a bid from the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. The immediate friend group created for you within the first week of classes can be a big relief for many. “I have met so many new people through Greek life,” she states. “It has been very helpful.” She explains how the opportunities to get involved have made it easier to adjust to moving so far away without knowing anyone.

Being a freshman brings many exciting opportunities, such as joining Greek life, but it also has its downsides. One big issue many freshman have are the closet sized rooms the university calls dorms. “Living in a dorm sucks,” Sondra explains, “My roommate doesn’t go to bed until four in the morning and keeps all her lights on,” she laughs. Moving to a new city also comes with homesickness. Sondra explains how she misses her friends from home, as well as her mom’s cooking. “The food is not very good here”, she adds, “Suwannee, our dining hall, is not good, and it’s not even open anymore,” she explains.

All in all, however, Sondra is glad that she chose FSU out of the eighteen schools she applied to. She has made many friends and couldn’t imagine herself at any other school. “I love it here”, she explains, “I am thriving.” Moving out of state for the first time can be very scary, but for Sondra, she has learned to make Florida State her home away from home.

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Annotated Bib

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Robbeson, Justine G., et al. "Disordered Eating Behavior, Body Image, and Energy Status of Female Student Dancers." International Journal of Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism, vol. 25, no. 4, Aug. 2015, pp. 344-352. EBSCOhost, login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=109423791&site=eds-live.

 

Justine G. Robbeson, Herculina Salome Kruger, and Hattie H. Wright are with the Facility of Health Sciences. Robbeson, Kruger, and Wright did an experiment with volunteer dancers and researched the habits of dancers. The authors study the common idea of thinness. They found that dancers are significantly more at risk for developing eating disorders by a factor of over two thirds. They also studied the energy deficits that come with these disorders in dancers by using a formula.

 

The eating disorders were assessed with Eating Disorder Inventory-3 and the Cognitive Dietary Restraint subscale of the Three-factor Eating Questionnaire. This includes factors such as drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, bulimia levels, and more, where “main findings of this study were that more than two thirds of dancers were identified as at risk for disordered eating behavior”. It also stated that the expectation for low body weight is low, stating that “dancers had a significantly lower desired body weight than controls”.

 

This source agrees with my other research and my question as it shows the strong connection between dance and eating disorders. The source is all factual based, but I believe the authors opinions would be concerned towards the high numbers of mental and physical health deficits. Many other authors also state the alarmingly high rates of eating disorders, and the experiments coincide. I believe this is a good source to base factual based opinions on.

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Jaden Slavens

Maddie Kahl

ENC 2135

1 March 2018

Dancers and Eating Disorders

A common misconception about competitive dance is that it is all sparkly costumes and spray tans. A majority of the community, and especially the dance community I was a part of for many years, puts on a show to hide what is happening backstage; helicopter moms, ruthless instructors and constant ridicule. The constant fat shaming, yelling, and strict dieting is often too much for dancers, pushing them to crippling eating disorders. As a competitive dancer, I have seen this occur numerous times, even to some of my closest friends. I have chosen this community because I believe this is a topic that is often hidden in the world of competitive dance. This leads to an important question - what are the factors that influence dancers to develop eating disorders? This question is often pushed aside within the community to make the community that cares so much about reputation to be picture perfect. People have begun to discuss this topic outside the community, as it is becoming more and more apparent that the pressure and ridicule that is hidden from the public has taken serious tolls on so many young women. I interviewed Emily Marshall, a competitive dancer who has overcome multiple eating disorders from dance, to investigate the reasons why dancers develop eating disorders.

            In the dance world where the norm is skipping meals to look fit on stage and having mental breakdowns before a performance because the pressure is too much to handle, mental illnesses are so easily adaptable. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are very common for young dancers. Anorexia nervosa is described by the Eating Disorder Hope Foundation as “self-starvation and lack of appetite”, and that “those struggling with anorexia frequently fear gaining weight and have have a distorted body image” (Eating Disorder Information, Education, & Resources). Bulimia nervosa is also described by the Eating Disorder Hope, but is “described by the ingestion of an abnormally large amount of food in a short time period, followed by an attempt to avoid gaining weight by purging what was consumed” (Eating Disorder Information, Education, & Resources). These eating disorders are not only brushed aside because of how common they are, but are often even joked about within the community.

A study published by the International Journal of Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism assessed dancers based on the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 complex, and “main findings of this study were that more than two thirds of dancers were identified as at risk for disordered eating behavior” (Robbeson 348). The study makes it clear that there is a strong desire to be thin and a big expectation for low body weight, stating that “dancers had a significantly lower desired body weight than controls” (Robbeson 344). The desire to be thin is apparent throughout many studies, but the exact factors that lead to these eating disorders are still being studied and debated.

One factor that has been shown to contribute to these eating disorders are the concept of perfectionism. Perfectionism is a common trait among dancers, since the sport is so precise. A study done by a Spanish sports psychology magazine called Revista de Psicología del Deporte highlights the theme of perfectionism within dancers with eating disorders, and found there was a positive correlation between perfectionism and concern over mistakes with eating disorders. The study included two hundred and eighty-one dancers, giving them a questionnaire assessing perfectionism, performance anxiety, body dissatisfaction, eating attitudes, and symptoms of depression. It is stated that dancers have a "three times higher risk of suffering from eating disorders" than others not in dance (Arcelus et al. 301). The study relates perfectionism with concern over mistakes, personal standards, cognitive anxiety, body dissatisfaction, depression, and diet. The presicion that goes along with dance can only be accomplished by those who will not accept anything short of perfection, making these dancers easier targets for disorders. I have personally noticed the amount of perfectionists in competitive dance, since succeeding in the sport includes getting body angles correct to the right degree, and repeating moves over and over again until it becomes perfect. Especially in competition, judges will take points off for the smallest details, so my teammates and I were trained from a very young age to be perfectionists. What we didn’t know was that while we were being trained to be perfectionists, we were also training to develop crippling eating disorders.

Another factor that takes a toll on dancer’s mental health is the amount of pressure put on dancers, especially competitive dancers, from dance teachers, dance moms, and other competitors. A survey done by Antoinette van Staden with the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science shows testimonies of dancers in professional ballet companies. Dancers discuss the pressure of dance, and the viciousness of their competitors. “As you rise through the ranks less and less people become a support system” They state, “People will put you down. There was a certain jealousy coming out” (23). Strong support systems are a very crucial part of mental illnesses, and those who are at higher risks for adapting these illnesses. In a cut-throat environment such as dance, it is easy to feel alone, and with the added pressures from teachers and other dancers to be the best, eating disorders can be so easily adapted. I recall many times having panic attacks in the bathroom five minutes before going on stage because of the massive amount of pressure put on me, having to put on a smile for the audience and judges, then immediately breaking down in tears as soon as I walked off stage. The pressure from dance teachers, parents, and other dancers would lead to every single girl on my dance team to have at least one anxiety attack every competition, which caused a huge mental deficit on every girl on my team.

Fatigue is another important factor in developing an eating disorder. An article written by Feitosa Rodrigues and Yasmin Cristina from the Brazilian Journal of Kineanthropometry & Human Performance discusses the mental deficits that fatigue from training can cause. A study was done on dancers from Brazil who were given questionnaires frequently used to identify subjects with eating disorders. Conclusions of this study lead to a relationship between fatigue and bulimia nervosa.  It was also concluded that “even with thin bodies, professional dancers tend to restrict their energy consumption, leading to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa” (Rodrigues et al.). The study shows how much pressure dancers put on their bodies, stating that “due to the high level of demand on their bodies, it is common to increase even more the training level, with the intention of burning more calories, harming their health by using inadequate and dangerous ways to achieve the body of dreams” (Rodrigues et al.). I personally recall a time where I was training upwards of 8 hours a day for a week leading up to a competition which pushed me into a psychotic break because of the level of exhaustion I was under. The level of physical fatigue coincides with mental fatigue, and eating disorders tend to target people with mental health issues.

There is also a very intense body image standard set for dancers, especially females. A study by Ajua Danis with Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences explains that “a dancer’s body dissatisfaction is influenced by the cut-throat culture of the dance world” (Danis). In my dance studio, there was a definite competition as to who could be the thinnest, and other dancers would be extremely critical of girl who did not uphold the high body image standards set by this community. Girls only wearing sports bras and short spandex shorts creates an environment that is very easy to compare your body to others.

Emily Marshall, a competitive dancer from Orlando at NRG Dance Studios, discusses the difficulties of having an eating disorder in the dance community. Emily loved competitive dance when she first started in the seventh grade, constantly training in her dance studio for twenty plus hours a week, training in all different styles from ballet to hip hop. Emily explains that she was so happy that she finally found something that she was extremely passionate about.

It wasn’t long before Emily began to realize how mentally damaging dance can be. “I think it was about two years into dancing that I really saw the mental effects of competitive dance”, she states, “I was the team captain, I placed first in every competition, I was given every solo, I was really at my peak. Everyone looked up to me, I had little girls coming up to me in the studio telling me they wanted to be just like me when they grew up. That’s a lot of pressure for a fifteen year old.” Emily soon began having to watch what she ate very closely, and being told when she looked bloated. She was given diets during competition season, which brought her attention to the foods that she was eating. The pressure put on her by teammates, parents, teachers and competitors can be extremely damaging, and would be difficult for anyone, let alone a young girl going through her adolescent phase.

Emily explains how dance is mentally taxing, as pressure to look a certain way builds. She explains that “unlike other sports where you are judged on your skill, I think to a great degree when it comes to dance you’re judged a lot on your appearance as well, and so while you’re trying to maintain the physical and skillfulness of the sport you’re trying to maintain a certain image.” On top of this pressure to maintain an image, Emily was also being talked down to by her teachers, and constantly compared herself to other dancers. Wearing tight leotards to class that show every little bit of fat and huge mirrors that are constantly being stared into to also makes it very easy to become self-conscious about weight and appearance.

One factor that Emily describes is taxing on dancer’s mental health is the fact that dancer’s bodies are constantly on display. She describes the small dance costumes, explaining that “in competition, it’s become a big trend to wear two-piece dance costumes that barely cover anything because they’re so small, and so I think it makes it very easy to compare yourself to others”. She also explains that if a dancer wears a two-piece costume, the dance teacher will almost always require the dancer to draw abs onto their bodies with makeup, so it appears as if the dancer has a six pack on stage.

Emily also states how she believes perfectionism is a big factor of falling down the spiral of eating disorders. She discusses the dance community, stating that “the whole dance world just promotes your perfectionism, which promotes you’re eating disorder.” With dance being such a precise sport, ballerinas tend to be very knit picky and obsessive over small details, which are personality traits found in many people with eating disorders. “I also think that because it has become so normal, the fact that dance causes eating disorders, it is easy for people to fall into that trap”, she explains, “a lot of people try to fit into this ‘dancer’ mold, thinking if they’re stick thin they might get more jobs. Unfortunately, in this industry that’s kind of true.”  

Breaking out of these eating habits in the dance world is hard, but not impossible. “Take all the time you need”, Emily says, “just reach out to someone outside of the dance world and talk to someone… Sometimes you just need to walk away, reevaluate, and take a break.” The dance community is intense, but doing what is best for an individual’s personal health is more important than a judges score at the end of a competition. Through my experience in the dance community, I have found that thin body images are just an illusion, and being thin does not equal being healthy, or have anything to do with skill level, but is merely a false reality created by the crazy, stressful community that is competitive dance.

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Annotated Bibliography 

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Robbeson, Justine G., et al. "Disordered Eating Behavior, Body Image, and Energy Status of  Female    Student Dancers." International Journal of Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism, vol. 25, no. 4, Aug. 2015, pp. 344-352. EBSCOhost, login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=109423791&site=eds-live.

 

Justine G. Robbeson, Herculina Salome Kruger, and Hattie H. Wright are with the Facility of Health Sciences. Robbeson, Kruger, and Wright did an experiment with volunteer dancers and researched the habits of dancers. Robbeson and Kruger work with the Faculty of Health Sciences, Centre of Excellence for Nutrition, Potchefstroom, South Africa. Wright works with the School of Health and Sport Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. The authors study the common idea of thinness. They found that dancers are significantly more at risk for developing eating disorders by a factor of over two thirds. They also studied the energy deficits that come with these disorders in dancers by using a formula.

 

The eating disorders were assessed with Eating Disorder Inventory-3 and the Cognitive Dietary Restraint subscale of the Three-factor Eating Questionnaire. This includes factors such as drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, bulimia levels, and more, where “main findings of this study were that more than two thirds of dancers were identified as at risk for disordered eating behavior”. It also stated that the expectation for low body weight is low, stating that “dancers had a significantly lower desired body weight than controls”.

 

This source agrees with my other research and my question as it shows the strong connection between dance and eating disorders. With the source relating to the influence of perfectionism by Jon Arelus, Milagrosa Sanchez-Martin, and Carmen Del Rio, they touched on the idea of high rates of body dissatisfaction, which is also prevalent in this source. The source is all factual based, but I believe the authors opinions would be concerned towards the high numbers of mental and physical health deficits. Many other authors also state the alarmingly high rates of eating disorders, and the experiments coincide. I believe this is a good source to base factual based opinions on.

 

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Arcelus, Jon, et al. "Influence of Perfectionism on Variables Associated to Eating Disorders in Dance Students." ["INFLUENCIA DEL PERFECCIONISMO EN VARIABLES RELACIONADAS CON TRASTORNOS ALIMENTARIOS EN ESTUDIANTES DE DANZA"]. Revista De Psicología Del Deporte, vol. 24, no. 2, July 2015, pp. 297-303. EBSCOhost, login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=109283444&site=eds-live.

 

This article is written by Jon Arelus, Milagrosa Sanchez-Martin, and Carmen Del Rio, researchers with a Spanish Sports Psychology Magazine. This article discusses the idea of perfectionism in dancers, and how they always strive to be the best and look the best, and have "an internal motivation to set and strive for achieving high goals". This often leads to eating disorders in dancers. The article states how body dissatisfaction and perfectionism leads to anxiety and depression, which causes a change in dieting.

 

A study was done on Spanish dancers assessing them on perfectionism, anxiety, body dissatisfaction, eating habits, and symptoms of depression, and it was found that there is a direct correlation between dieting and mood disorders. A risk model was constructed for dancers and it was tested on a sample. The results agreed with the model in the fact that there is a strong correlation. It is known that “correlations between body dissatisfaction, depression, and food restriction were also high”. It is also stated that dancers have a "three times higher risk of suffering from eating disorders".

 

This article agrees with "Fatigue and Symptoms of Eating Disorders in Professional Dancers” in stating that there is a direct correlation between dance and eating disorders. This source is the first one to bring up the idea of perfectionism, though others have suggested theories like it. These authors feel the correlation is very strong. This source has a good diagram for the relationship of dieting, depression, anxiety, etc.

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Feitosa Rodrigues, Yasmin Cristina, et al. "Fatigue and Symptoms of Eating Disorders in Professional Dancers. / Fadiga E Sintomas De Transtornos Alimentares Em Bailarinos Profissionais." Brazilian Journal of Kineanthropometry & Human Performance, vol. 19, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 96-107. EBSCOhost, login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=123334819&site=eds-live.

 

This article was written by Feitosa Rodrigues and Yasmin Cristina from the Brazilian Journal of Kineanthropometry & Human Performance. This article discusses both the mental and physical tolls that dance can have on professional dancers. It argues that not only does dance often lead to eating disorders but also muscle fatigue. This article touches on the fact that there is a connection between their exhaustion and mental state, stating that “due to the high level of demand on their bodies, it is common to increase even more the training level, with the intention of burning more calories, harming their health by using inadequate and dangerous ways to achieve the body of dreams.”

 

A study was done on dancers from Brazil who were given questionnaires frequently used to identify subjects with eating disorders. BMI was also calculated. The results showed that eating disorders were prevalent in dancers, but mostly female dancers. The results also showed that “among ideal weight dancers, 82.4% had symptoms [of anorexia nervosa].” It was also concluded that “even with thin bodies, professional dancers tend to restrict their energy consumption, leading to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa.” Conclusions also lead to “a relationship between fatigue and symptoms of bulimia nervosa.”

 

This source agrees with my other research and furthers the idea that there is a strong link between dance and eating disorders. This source agrees with the source "Disordered Eating Behavior, Body Image, and Energy Status of Female Student Dancers” in the sense that they both did a study on direct correlations between the two, and the results were very similar. This source is different because it discusses fatigue and exhaustion.

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van Staden, Antoinette, et al. "A Psycho-Educational Model to Enhance the Self-Development and Mental Health of Classical Dancers." Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, vol. 13, no. 1, Feb. 2009, pp. 20-28. EBSCOhost, login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=37247998&site=eds-live.

 

This article was written by Antoinette van Staden with the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science. Van Staden is a dance teacher and researcher, as well as a director of a South African youth ballet company. This article aims to answer the question “How can pre-professional classical dancers (normally between 11 and l8 years of age) be assisted in promoting their mental health, balanced functioning, and self-actualization as individuals and as artistic performers?”. This article explores self identity, perfectionism, lack of support, and pressures that dancers face.

 

This article studies nine principal dancers from two different ballet companies and conducted interviews based on their experiences. It also discusses how dancers fall in a downward spiral of mental illnesses, stating that “dancers are particularly prone to problems involving self-esteem, perfectionism, body image, and eating disorders.” It also provides personal testimonies from dancers as they show how vicious dance is, claiming that “as you rise through the ranks less and less people become a support system. People will put you down. There was a certain jealousy coming out.” From these testimonies, the authors created a psychoeducational model to show the relationship between mental illnesses and creating a trusting environment.

 

This article differs from the others in the sense that it focuses more on mental health in general rather than strictly eating disorders. It is similar to the article Influence of Perfectionism on Variables Associated to Eating Disorders in Dance Students in the sense that it discusses the idea of perfectionism. This is a good source for personal testimonies and for exploring not only just eating disorders, but mental hardships in general which can lead to mental illnesses. It is also different than the other sources in the sense that it provides a solution to these eating disorders.

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Danis, Ajua. “Body Image Perceptions among Dancers in Urban Environmental Settings.”Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Elsevier, 5 July 2016, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042816302713?via%3Dihub.

 

This article was written by Ajua Danis with the Basic Science Department at Universiti Teknologi MARA. This article highlights the intense body image standards for dancers, and the pressures of being thin. As explained by the author, “the dancer’s body dissatisfaction is influenced by the cut-throat culture of the dancing world.” Danis describes the rising amount of body dissatisfaction in dancers, and the connection between their BMI.

 

In a study done with 155 dancers, BMI was recorded for each dancer, as well as their body image perceptions. It was determined that “among those who are in an ideal body mass index, the result shows that 31.9% did not satisfy with their body image”. Of the overall study, 30% of all dancers felt dissatisfied with their bodies. The author also states that “dancers also found to be more concerned about their physical appearance and weight.” It also shows the dancers BMI in their respective categories.

 

A disadvantage to this article is that it states the reason for body dissatisfaction is unknown, whereas the other articles, like  "Influence of Perfectionism on Variables Associated to Eating Disorders in Dance Students” where is states specific reason that dancers adapt eating disorders. This article is good for raw information on BMI and body dissatisfaction.