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Dance studio pressures students to stay thin
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Written by Natalya Lunsford, Staff Writer
Imagine a young student standing in front of a mirror, wearing barely any clothing while having someone they look up to criticize their every imperfection. This is what dancers at a local dance studio go through every day.
This dance studio requires young dancers to watch their weight and participate in dieting activities. While these diets can be healthy, most people don’t understand that dieting can quickly merge into something greater and far more serious, such as an eating disorder.
“Whenever you start dancing, until you are around age 7 they really don’t care. They persuade you to diet, but after you hit age 7, depending on the dances you do, they enforce dieting strongly,” said a dancer who attends West and asked that her name be withheld. “A lot of the girls take it too far or to extremes. Some make themselves throw up and some just don’t eat in general.”
Eating disorders typically start in preteens and teenagers who are unsatisfied or self-conscience about their appearance and weight. According to kidshealth.org, two out of every 100 adolescents in the U.S. struggle with an eating disorder, most commonly anorexia and/or bulimia. However, most hide these disorders from their families for months or even years.
The dance student said that most of the dancers don’t tell their families when they start changing their eating habits. However, most families will eventually find out and attempt to help them recover.
Unfortunately, many athletes, including dancers, become so competitive that their parents actually promote unhealthy eating habits, such as skipping meals. Parents aren’t the only ones who promote these habits; coaches and instructors frequently do as well.
“Depending on which instructors you have, some will yell at you and try to motivate you to diet, which is not right. Sometimes they make you feel bad about yourself to where you do it on your own,” the student said.
The dancers from the dance studio compete in multiple events each year and always place well. They currently have many awards and titles in several categories. These competitions are judged using a points system.
“There’s a point system in dance just like competitive cheerleading. In dance, if your foot is not placed properly, and it doesn’t look effortless, you’ll get points deducted,” the student said.
The judges from these competitions expect perfection from the dancers and aren’t lenient when it comes to calculating the scores. They even expect the dancers to be around the same size, both in height and weight.
“They take off points if they feel a competitor is overweight, and in their eyes overweight would be 112 pounds,” the student said.
Eating disorders in youth can result in failure to develop properly and in extreme cases can lead to death. Most adults with eating disorders picked up their unhealthy habits when they were younger.
Forcing kids to watch their weight at a young age can affect them for a lifetime.
“I knew a girl who was very suicidal and depressed because the instructors were making her diet. On top of that, when she went home, her parents were trying to get her to do the same thing,” the student said.
Eating disorders are often associated with suicidal thoughts and actions. Insecurity and low self-esteem can also be linked to these disorders.
“Honestly, I enjoy eating food a lot and I don’t want to deprive myself of that. In my opinion you shouldn’t change your body to meet another person’s standards; you should make it how you want it instead,” the student said.
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