Ballet parents, does this worry you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I have a DD who train to the professional level and Ballet but did end up moving on little while after high school. As she rose in the ranks the pressure regarding weight increased. I think most studios are conscientious about the whole weight issue while the children are young through about high school. It is then that the girls do you start sensing pressure, mostly from former professional ballet dancers, who are now teachers, both men and women, who do make sometimes out right comments about weight. There are definitely plenty of dancers with eating disorders but there are also just as many swimmers, equestrian riders and girls and boys out in the general population who have issues.

Ballet definitely encourages perfectionistic behavior but some kids are really drawn to it and it is a beautiful art form. Our daughter did not have an eating disorder and gained a ton of discipline which is carrying over now into her scholastic life more than we ever imagined it would. It did take a fair amount of monitoring and frank discussion on our part about eating and what it means to be healthy.

This is demonstrably untrue.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16715486/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25675418/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22379716/

"Eating pathology among adolescent ballet dancers may be a function of both genetic and environmental risk. Dancers who exhibit high levels of perfectionism and, perhaps consequently, place themselves in highly competitive environments, may exhibit a significantly increased risk for disordered eating in comparison to dancers who are less perfectionistic and/or place themselves in less competitive environments."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16211632

[Anonymous]

PP: google is your friend - google any sport and eating and you'll find research - there is evidence among many sports, especially those with tight fitting gear and/or weight requirements (ice skating/dancing, wrestling, anyone?):

Swimmers/gymnasts: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22428420

Equestrians: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=equestrian+eating+disorders

Runners: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30854400

[Anonymous]

I've coached gymnastics in various places for decades. Out of the hundreds of kids I've coached I can pinpoint 2 who developed disordered eating over the years I coached them. In both cases they were high level athletes with lots of pressure on them from their parents and were also going through another stressor in their life that was very much beyond their control. One had parents in the midst of a messy divorce and the other was juggling gymnastics (HS and club), swim, along with school and stress of waiting to hear back from one of the many colleges she had applied to.

It was about control. In both cases we met with parents and let them know the things we were noticing and developed a course of action from there. Both girls were able to recognize and acknowledge what was going on and the parents were on board with therapy if we did not see improvement within a month or so. It's pretty easy to tell in the gymnastics setting when this happens. I saw these girls in a leotard, spotting them on skills every day. I saw the fatigue and change in their mood and attitude, even the way they interact with their teammates. When I started seeing that leotard look baggy I started asking questions. I care about them and realize I might be the first person to see the impacts of disordered eating. Hopefully coaches/teachers in other sports are as observant.

I agree it's not necessarily the sport. They needed help going through the changes going on in their life. I think we can all relate to that in some way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aside from MYB, what other serious ballet schools in the region promote a healthy body image? My daughter is serious about ballet, but likes modern too.

CityDance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It can also cause all sorts of health problems. I had a friend who has knee issues now. I'd rather my daughter do something safer. There are too many issues with ballet.

But this has to be evaluated in comparison with other activities though. Look at the annual ER-related injury rates for basketball and gymnastics, the concussion rates for football. Our kids can't live in a vacuum.

Nope. I've seen enough to know the risks. There are tons of other sports.