Eating Disorders Are Dangerous And Those People With These Disorders

The pressure to be physically perfect is so severe in dance studios today that young women and girls often suffer from a disease, anorexia nervosa. This disorder also affects male dancers, other men, young girls and women, and even children as young as four years of age (Cohen). An estimated 0.5 to 3.7 percent of females suffer from anorexia nervosa in their lifetime (NIMH). However, anorexia is more severe and most recognized in the dance studio in the female dancers.

Elice McKinley is a ballet dancer at the Carolina Ballet in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Mail Online, 2015). During the interview she admitted she was never anorexic but felt she always had the mentality of one, adding that for nearly a decade she ate very little on a daily basis, only ever eating the likes of boiled chicken and fruit. She also revealed how in the ballet world, weight is a topic that is constantly discussed and how they are told to dance all day, every day, and get by on very little sustenance (Mail Online, 2015). This may suggest how little support is received in an institutional environment and the extent of this concern. I believe some blame can be put on schooling for this low self-esteem and some experiencing body image issues due to being in such a closed minded environment for however many years. It is very important that advice is given to dance students, especially as they are in an environment that is based on appearance and have their bodies participate in such a physically demanding schedule. From experience, I am aware how easy it is to get caught up in wanting to look a certain way and to feel obliged to be a certain size. Without personal advice and support, I believe some dance students will be very uneducated when it comes to nutrition having never been in the environment that

Nowadays, when people emphasis more and more on healthy lifestyles, both exercise and food intake have become a big part of the consideration. With the goals of being fit and losing weight, some people eat irregularly or do not eat at all. As a result, eating disorders seem more often on news and reports. However, some people still view it as a joke. With the increasing number of people diagnosed with eating disorders, people should raise awareness on the effects of eating disorders and treat them seriously.

Many would agree that a perfect dancer would be slender, strong, have good feet and turnout, and be intelligent so they can pick up the choreography quickly. This has caused immense pressure on young ballerinas to become that ballerina they see in their music box. Some aspects of these are natural talents that cannot be manipulated beyond a certain point, for example, the turnout and feet. The ones that people can exert some measure of control over have led to some twisted means of achieving such things. Rachel Parker says that thinness is often associated with beauty in the ballet world. She struggled with her weight and eating habits until she was diagnosed with osteoporosis and realized she needed to eat better. This is common in the ballet world. There are times that people would not get a certain part in a dance because they did not have the right body type. Possibly, because of this, ballet dancers are said to be ten times more likely to have an eating disorder than non-dancers are (BBC News Article).

“Dying to be Thin,” produced by PBS, is a documentary that examines the troubles that persons who are affected by eating disorders go through and the constant, daily struggles they face with health and body image. The film tells the story of a number of young women who battled mainly anorexia and bulimia and mixes a variety of ages to give a “during” and an “after” perspective. Many of the women in the video were ballet or some similar type of dancer. Dancers, by their own account, are encouraged to be thin. The issue really came to the forefront after a young ballet dancer from Boston died of heart failure at the young age of 22, with an eating disorder deemed to be the cause. The narrator goes on to introduce more young women and detail the potential illnesses that their eating disorders can cause. Chronic low blood pressure, kidney and liver damage, severe early osteoporosis, and heart failure are all common things seem in patients who suffer from eating disorders. Most patients have dangerously low body weights, body fat percentages, and, often, young women will experience amenorrhea, which is the loss of menstruation. All of the people in the video wanted to be better and were seeking a road to recovery. The video showed though, how difficult that can be since the eating disorders can be so wide ranging and have a number of different root causes. Often patients develop eating disorders as something that they have control over, in a world that they feel is out of their

It is important to distinguish between normal eating and the behaviors that typify eating disorders or disordered eating. Even among those attempting to lose weight or maintain a lower percentage of body fat, normal eating is “flexible and not obsessive.” (Dunford and Doyle 455). Although athletes have a stricter nutrition plan versus the general population, their eating should actively support training through moderate levels of restraint yet should still allow for healthy eating patterns such as eating when hungry, not feeling the need to punish oneself after an indulgence through excessive caloric restriction or exercise, and the ability to participate in social events. Dunford and Doyle term this as “discipline, not…obsession” (456). While the eating disorders of anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating all have clear-cut clinical definitions, disordered eating is a more nebulous term that can define a wider array of

With that being said, certain sports put more emphasize on a player’s weight and performance than others. For instance, gymnastics, dancers, wrestlers, divers and long distance runners feature more strain than sports such as basketball, skiing or volleyball. Gymnasts and dancers are highly at risk for developing eating disorders for multiple reasons. The main reason is that their success relies

Pressure to reduce weight has been the common explanation for the increased prevalence of eating-related problems among athletes and dancers. One of the reasons that ballet dancers may be at risk for developing eating disorders is that they may have to diet in order to maintain the sylph-like bodies that are required for the discipline of ballet. Lowenkopf and Vincent (1982) have suggested that female adolescent dancers run eight times the risk of developing eating disorders compared to their non-dieting peers. Ballet is also an activity that is low in energy expenditure, and Cohen et al. (1982) reported that while age-matched swimmers or skaters might expend 500 calories in a similar length session, a dancer would only expend 200 calories.

When thinking about the causes of eating disorders, I used to think about the media and the emphasis put on being thin. Although that can play a role in the cause for some people, many times there is a deeper rooted cause. This video allowed me to hear the perspectives from the point of view of someone who experienced a severe eating disorder. In the case of a dancer, many times they are told at a very young age that they need to lose weight. They were expected to look a certain way and put a high priority on maintaining a weight that many times, is 15% below the normal weight for their height. Not only is this physically damaging, but it is psychologically damaging as well. Girls begin to think that they are not good enough or that skinny is better and starvation is the price of

Over the past twenty years, there has been a great increase of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa which have come out as major psychological and health problems. This increase in eating disorders has resulted from the intense societal pressure to diet and conform to an unrealistic weight and body size. For the general population of women, the lifetime number of anorexia nervosa is approximately 0.7%, and that of bulimia nervosa is as high as 10.3% ( Taub & Blinde, 1992). Since many athletes contain almost the same behaviors to those with eating disorders, there has also been an increase in interest in whether athletes are at a risk for eating disorders.

While I want to help active individuals and athletes excel in their prospective activities, I also plan to provide individuals recovering from eating disorders with the resources needed to have a successful recovery. Many people try to better their lives by improving their diets but their good intentions mixed with erroneous information found on the internet lead them towards binge – restriction pattered eating. I myself found myself believing I needed fewer and fewer calories to survive and almost killed myself in the process of getting

One essential part of competitive sport is nutrition and exercise. These factors are important because they can considerably affect an athlete’s performance. In the Perfect Body, Andie, an aspiring Olympic gymnast, engages in a strict diet to fit her sporting norm. Her coach pushes her to lose weight, and she feels pressured to maintain a small build. In order to reach the professional level, Andie uses extreme measures such as self-induced vomiting, fasting, and excessive exercise to control her weight. While these methods may seem to improve performance initially, they may be signs of an eating disorder. Compulsive exercise may also lead to burnout and overuse injuries. Ultimately, food restrictions and overtraining can damage an athlete’s health and performance.

Eating disorders alter the mind to create intense fears about body image. The National Institute of Mental Health (2014) states that most people experience concerns about their weight, but eating disorders make this concern disproportionate and it negatively impacts both psychological and physical health, as well as social life. Like all psychological disorders, the causes of eating disorders vary and are contributed to by many factors; certain populations are more vulnerable. Athletes are at a greater risk for developing eating disorders than non-athletes because of sports related pressures including improving performance through body weight regulation and maintaining the aesthetic of the particular sport. In this literature review, the correlation

In a journal entry G.N Hidayah and A.H. Syahrul Bariah wrote, “Eating Attitude, Body Image, Body Composition and Dieting Behavior among Dancers”. They discovered eating disorders among dancers was common and a problem they struggle with. 23 dancers at the studio took the survey. The survey was broken down asking question on diet habits, and other eating disorder symptoms. 22 said that they constantly think about weight and shape. 18 of the dancers are afraid of weight gain. 11 said that they have dieted to lose weight. 4 said they have vomited or have taken diet pills to get rid of weight. 20 have said that they have tried exercising to get rid of weight (Hidyah and Bariah). The information presented shows that the dancers have conflicts with their bodies for reasons of their own. What’s important to notice from the data collected is the dancers have a set image that they see they should be otherwise a large percentage of them wouldn’t have been afraid of gaining weight or afraid of their weight. None of the were diagnosed with an eating disorder but symptoms where present in the data and should be made aware.

The eating disorders, Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are psychological life threatening disorders that are becoming more common in today’s society. When an eating disorder is developed, the victim is not always aware of the oral consequences he or she will have to endure. This review of research indicates the risks and consequences associated with eating disorders and oral health.