Ballerina Pays High Price for Figure

Young female ballet dancers often sacrifice their health in their quest to obtain the sylphlike figures required of their art, a study found.

St. Francis Memorial Hospital’s Center for Sports Medicine reported that 40% of the dancers had severe calcium deficiencies, 50% were low in iron and 70% were lacking in zinc. A third of the dancers averaged less than 1,500 calories daily.

Dr. Alvin R. Loosli, who headed the one-year project, said the study of 100 Bay Area dance students aged 12 to 17 showed that the aspiring ballerinas “are chronically dieting at a time when the female body height and skeletal mass is still developing. As a result, disturbance in growth and development, amenorrhea (delay in menstruation), decreased bone density and anemia are prevalent.”

He said that although the girls knew the need for sound bodies, they ate vitamins and minerals in addition to their meager meals “without regard to proper type or amount.”

He noted that the ballet world has long demanded that dancers remain at least 10 pounds below normal. In addition, he said, dancers’ schedules often interfere with regular meal schedules and dancers often receive the bulk of their nutritional information from other students, “usually quick-weight-loss information, often not nutritionally sound.”

He said anorexia, intentional dehydration, laxative abuse, self-induced vomiting and fasting are also common methods of weight control in the group.

Noting that the same problems were also faced by young gymnasts and figure skaters, Loosli said it is up to nutrition counselors to help the young dancers and athletes achieve thin bodies in a safe and healthy manner.

The hospital’s findings were presented recently to a sports medicine conference in Nashville, Tenn.