Dancing Eating Disorders

The Disorder of Dancing
It is estimated that 10% of the women population have eating disorders (primary text) however, 83% percent of dancers have eating disorders(eatingdisorderreview.com). The alarming statistics for eating disorders are especially prevalent in dance students. One source said that “dancers have a three times higher of a risk of suffering from eating disorders… than non-dancers” (Arcelus 1). Eating disorders in dancers is not something that is widely talked about by the general public because it is not something known about for how prevalent they are. Eating disorders in dancers are alarmingly high. As explained in the “the starving act” the reason for the high rate of disorders in dancers is not because of dancing itself

The dancers are told they need to workout on top of the hours of practice they are already doing. In the Starving Act a girl stated, “We are always told we need to be in shape and go to the gym…basically to be perfect” (PT). When instructors and dance teachers are always telling girls that they need to look a certain way it puts pressure on the dancers to always be thinking about their bodies and that they need to improve them. In the article Perfectionism and learning… they state “Learning experiences about thinness are more important in predicting ED symptoms than time spent in dance class” (Penniment 14). This shows that is not dance itself or the time spent in dance class that is the problem but how the time is used in class and what is being said to influence the dancers. From personal experience growing up as a dancer and spending six hours a day in the studio I know first hand how much the instructor can make a difference in the class. The dance teachers play a vital role in the environment and attitude towards their dancer’s bodies. Dance instructors should be taking their role very seriously in how the effect their dancers. The environment in which the instructors create can have a direct effect on the way their dancers view their

According to Perfectionism and learning… article they define self inducted perfectionism as “Clinical perfectionism involves basing ones self worth almost exclusively on the determined pursuit of personally demanding standards” (Penniment 15). Like I stated earlier growing up as a competitive dancer I know first hand the immense amount of pressure to be thin. I like to give the example about costumes that are two pieced. Whenever a girl is going to the swimming pool in the summer in a two piece it can be intimidating and brings out a lot of self consciousness in girls. Imagine wearing that same thing with a little more coverage and dancing in it…. Moving your body in so that every area is seen while having sometimes thousands of people looking at you. In the article perfectionism and learning they state that “Dancers with elevated perfectionism may perceive greater emphasis on thinness within their dance class and expect more positive result from achieving a very low body weight” (Penniment 15). This stems from their peers getting skinnier and do they hold themselves to the high standard of being the best which unfortunately means being skinnier. Like later on stated in the article dancers are putting themselves in these highly competitive situations. They stated