Review of 'Nutrition for Dancers’ by Jasmine Challis

‘Nutrition for Dancers’ by Jasmine Challis is an article aimed at dancers about nutrition, what they should and should not be eating and why. It was included in danceUK.org’s Healthy Dancer Programme which looks to improve dancers’ knowledge of what they should be doing to maintain a healthy body. In this article Challis looks at all the main food groups and explains how each one is important for keeping a dancer’s body fit healthy and ready to work.

Under the title ‘energy’ Challis explains the importance of carbohydrates in the diet of a dancer to allow them to keep up their energy during heavy training and performances. She explains that dancers should take in a higher percentage of carbohydrates than the average person because they are the most effective form source of energy for the high intensity activity of dance. She also explains that dancers need less percentage fat and protein in their diet because those food groups are needed more for low intensity activity as they take longer for the body to digest than carbohydrates.

Challis also gives examples of the types of carbohydrates and fats dancers should be eating. Carbohydrates should be whole grain and fats should be oily fish, and nuts, seeds and oils high in Omega 3 and Omega 6.

Challis also stresses the importance of fruit and vegetables for vitamins and the downsides to drinking too much alcohol. She also warns the reader that taking vitamin or mineral supplements can sometimes do harm rather than good if one takes them when they are eating right to begin with. She advises that dancers should try to take in all the essential vitamins and minerals from their food and only take supplements if it is extremely necessary to their diet.

Nutritional meal ideas are included by Challis in the piece and she gives tips on how to choose healthier options. She emphasizes that there is nothing a dancer should rule out completely but there are healthy options for each meal. For example,

“lf you have a cooked breakfast available the best choices are poached or boiled eggs, grilled lean bacon, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, baked beans and toast. Steer away from the sausages, fried eggs, fried bread, fried mushrooms/tomatoes and black pudding as the  high fat content not only means you may not eat enough carbohydrate, but the meal will take much longer than normal to leave your stomach not the best way to start class perhaps.” Challis (2009)

Challis then goes on to explain the draw backs to wanting to lose or gain weight when you are a dancer. She makes clear that if one eats an extra/cuts back on 500 calories per day they will only gain/lose approximately 1lb per week. Challis expresses concern for a dancer’s health if they are attempting to lose weight because cutting calories may result in eating way too little for the amount of exercise they are doing and in women this can be a problem for bones and fertility.

This article is relevant to my inquiry as it explains the importance of a nutritious diet for dancers. Challis explains that we should not deny our bodies any food but we should try and find balance and look for more nutritious options where possible.  I think this is a valuable lesson for most female dancers because in college and in the professional world there is such an emphasis on being slim and toned which leads to dieting. I believe many dancers think that their ideal weight is much thinner than what is actually healthy for them. However, if they are cutting out calories to achieve this, they are probably cutting out required minerals and nutrients and this will not be helping to energize their bodies and can lead to more serious problems such as periods stopping.

Also, I think the meal ideas in this piece could be beneficial to many dancers and if dancers follow these they will most likely be able to maintain a healthy weight but stay slim because Challis includes the right amounts of each food group to best assist them when they are in heavy training or performing. In essence, they will be burning off what they eat.

After doing some background research on the author of this piece at http://www.dancersdiets.co.uk/about/ it appears she has a degree in Nutrition and a post graduate diploma in Dietetics which allowed her to become a dietician. She has worked with dancers for over 20 years now and she is dedicated to giving dancers information and advice on how to eat healthily so they can perform at their best. With all her experience and background in the field, Challis knows what she is talking about and that makes this piece a reliable source of information.

However, for all the good advice given in this piece it needs to be pointed out how general it is. Every individual is different and needs differing amounts of each food group depending on many factors including their metabolism and exactly how intense their show or training sessions are. For example, I have done performances which have only been an hour long but I have danced non-stop in that hour. Yet, I have also done shows which last over two hours but for much of that I was not even on stage. Also, different dance styles must require different diet requirements. In my own experience I have done shows which are mainly jazz based and high intensity and then show girl shows where it is more about walking and kicking.

Therefore, even though I believe this piece to be extremely helpful and full of insight which could help many dancers make the right nutritional choices, I do also believe that each dancer should really consider how much demand they are putting on their bodies at each given time and adjust their diet accordingly.