I have decided to look at my inquiry from the perspective of dancer's health. From discussions with other students in my SIG and from reading some material on DanceUK, as referred to me by Paula, I have realised that there is conflicting information coming from teachers/employers and diet specialists when it come to the health of dancers.
Sadly, it seems that the majority of weight problems in dancers start with pressures from teachers at college. This discussion titled 'Is the world of entertainment obsessed with a dancer’s body image?' started by Emily Rose soon started to rear questions about where body image obsessions stem from. It is interesting to learn that most dancers', like me, became aware of their bodies more at college. Comments made about weight at college have clearly affected dancers' health both mentally and physically. Natalie Less made this comment during the discussion,
'In my first year of college I was put on a 'Fat list'...an actual typed up list on a piece of paper that was pinned up on all notice boards'.
Thinking back we had a similar thing at my school too. At the time I thought of it as a normal part of dance college but luckily for me my name never appeared on such a list and this might be why I took it with a pinch of salt. However, that was then and this is now. These days the idea of subjecting 16 year olds to this type of public humiliation about their weight is sickening! At 16 we are still growing and changing not to mention this is normally the first time a student has been away from home for extended periods of time which means they don't have family close by providing them with support and making sure they are sensible with eating. I remember once being made to feel guilty for eating a packet of Hula Hoops by a ballet teacher who was later asked to leave the school because she had an eating disorder herself. Which makes me question are some of these teachers fit to be giving advice? Granted, Hula Hoops are not the most nutritious of foods but they are not the devil!
This has made me wonder whether students getting told to lose weight are given any direction i.e an eating plan. And if so is the eating plan actually helpful? I have brought up this query on two discussions on Facebook. As I haven't experienced being on a 'fat list' personally I hope that someone who was can give me some information about how your weight was dealt with by staff. Lately I have been watching a lot of Channel 4's Supersize vs Superskinny (my boyfriend is American so had never seen it and now I've got him hooked!). While watching this show it is interesting to see how many of the 'Superskinny's' think that eating all salads or all vegetables is a healthy way of eating. When I was 16 if somebody told me to lose weight I wouldn't have known where to start which is why education in this area is important for dancers. When I was at college we had a nutrition talk with a specialist who asked us all what we ate then slated everything we said. I have never seen someone so appalled by the idea of lemon curd!! I don't really remember any of the things she encouraged us to eat, only the things she said were bad (there were a lot). After the lecture some of our teachers applauded her and others said that it was too restrictive a diet for dancers in training which left us even more confused!
Paula and I have been discussing the website DanceUK. On this website is a fantastic diet plan for dancers. It explains what each food group is needed for within a dancers lifestyle and why. It even includes pizza, I am sure my anti - hula hoop ballet teacher would lose her mind at the thought!
Hayley Bence just replied to my question about whether dancers in college who are told to lose weight are given a healthy eating plan or are just left to figure it out for themselves. She wrote this
ReplyDelete'i was just told to avoid carbs but nothing else. But thinking about it maybe it would have been a good idea to sit with someone and write an eating plan that i could have followed, maybe by doing it this way it wont affect some people to the point of them taking it to the extreme.'
So not only did she feel as though more could have been done she was also given bad advice. Nutritionists at DanceUK say carbs are the most important thing for a dancer to eat.
Ellie - also sending you an email - it seems like health is a starting point of a number of issues being raised - carry on your thinking through the issue and now I would suggest starting looking for literature to inform your views.
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