Dancers and Eating Disorders

Dancers and Eating Disorders

Hillary Roberts

27 April 2011

What is Dance?

            Dance is a form of art movement that focuses on the movement of the body, typically relative to some form of music. Some people choose to study this movement, and the type of movement varies depending on what type of dance they choose. Unlike tap and folk dance, ballet, modern, and jazz are three common dance forms that require the use of the whole body. All of these focus on the flexibility of the body and are mainly cardio and aerobic exercises. In relation to eating disorders, dancers are not required to be thin, but in order to achieve the perfect silhouette or have the flexibility to perform certain movements, they will engage in unhealthy behaviors. This strive to have a perfect silhouette can lead to a dislike of the current state of one’s body, or a negative body image.

What is Body Image?

            The body is a constantly changing entity. Everything about it is altered and shifted, expanded or contracted at some point in one’s life. These changes in appearance are embraced by some but shunned by others. Those who embrace these changes have a positive body image, they are proud of what they see when they look in the mirror. In contrast, those who shun the changes in their bodies have a negative body image, or body dissatisfaction. To people with a large amount of body dissatisfaction, body shape, weight and appearance are incredibly important to their everyday lives. This feeling can lead to the belief that they must change the way they look in order to feel better about themselves. One of the ways to change is to alter one’s eating behaviors, and by doing this one can control their weight and possibly the size of their body.

What is Anorexia Nervosa?

            Eating disorders have become more and more common in the past few decades, anorexia nervosa being one of them. Anorexia is “characterized by a refusal to maintain body weight at or above what is considered a minimal normal weight for age and height” (Dancyger et al., 2008, p. 1). The DSM-IV defines specifically what qualifies for specific disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, among others. According to the DSM-IV, in order for a person to be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, there must be a refusal to maintain body weight at or above what is considered a minimally normal weight for age and height, a fear of becoming fat or gaining weight, despite being underweight, amenorrhea in women, lack of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles, and a denial of the seriousness of low body weight. Many of the people who have been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa first had low self-esteem or body dissatisfaction.

Eating Disorders and Dancers

            In an experiment performed by Toro et al. (2008), 76 adolescent dancers, who combined dancing and school studies, answered questionnaires to assess “attitudes to eating, cultural influences on the body shape model, eating disorders, and risk factors for eating disorders” (Toro et al., 2008). From these questionnaires it was discovered that these dancers demonstrate prevalence toward eating disorders and risk eating behaviors that were similar to like adolescents in the general population. The dancers in the study also had a higher prevalence of amenorrhea that coincided with a considerably low BMI, body mass index. It was also discovered that those that participated in dance classes had a dedication to physical exercise that exceeds the dedication of those in the general population. Also these dancers had a greater desire than the general population to reduce the size of their breasts and buttocks. Many of the dancers questioned felt pressure from the authority figures on their choice of food, physical appearance, and weight.

Thinness-Related Learning

            In research performed by Annus et al. (2009), it was hypothesized that a major risk factor in future eating disturbance is specifically learning about thinness in a dance class. To perform this experiment, Annus et al., implemented the expectancy theory, which suggests “social learning experiences lead to the formation of expectances for the consequences of behavior, which affect the future likelihood of that behavior” (Annus et al. 2009). 500 college-aged women were questioned about their previous experiences in dance, what they learned about thinness in dance classes, as well as their eating behaviors and attitudes toward thinness. In the results it was found that simply taking dance class had no relation to the symptoms of eating disorders, however, those women who participated in higher-level dance classes were more likely to learn thinness attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, those women are at greater risk for exposing themselves to environmental risks to eating disorders. Particularly women who participate in competitive dance training, including but not limited to college conservatories and professional ballet schools, experience increasing symptomatology in relation to eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa. This study was, of course, subject to the honesty of the participants and their personal opinions of their learning.

            Annus et al. (2009) also reported on other studies that researched the amount of dancers that experience some or all of the risks of eating disorders. The different risks evaluated included levels of body dissatisfactions, pathological weight control behaviors, amenorrhea, and the prevalence of eating disorders. In all of these areas, dancers exhibit higher levels than non-dancers. It was thought that these levels are considerably higher in dancers because both characteristics appear in most dancers as well as being in an environment that promotes dieting and thinness.

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