Pirouettes and Perfection: A Narrative Review on Eating Disorders among Ballet Dancers---Risk Factors, Prevalence, and Prevention

Abstract

While eating disorders disorders remain remain a serious mental and physical health concern that afflicts millions worldwide, they are particularly prevalent in performance-based disciplines that demand physical perfection. Ballet is one of the highest risk activities due to its aesthetic ideal of thinness, precision, and gracefulness. This narrative review examines the contribution of ballet’s historical evolution in shaping body dissatisfaction,  which is a potential driver of the development of eating disorders;, how the prevalence of eating disorders within the dancer group varies;, and the dancer-tailored interventions aimed at mitigating these effects. George Balanchine was underscored as the primary historical figure who idealized the modern thin body standards in ballet. Adolescent, professional, female, and white dancers were observed to have a higher risk of developing eating disorders or have exhibited more intensified dissatisfaction towards their bodies, indicating the role that specific ballet identity plays in the general overarching prevalence of eating disorders among this population. Yet with distinct patterns patterns identified identified regarding the prevalence, little to no interventions have displayed long-lasting effects in treating the issue. Hence, future research should focus on on establishing establishing a promising intervention that both addresses and respects the influences brought by the discipline itself.