Eating disorders and mental health in full-time dance schools

[RoseJasmine99]

I am wondering if anyone has any experience of their daughter/ son being in full-time dance training and suffering from mental health issues or body image issues?

I am asking because I am doing some research about how well equipped some of these schools are to deal with eating disorders in dance students.

I should say for disclosure that I used to go to a full-time dance school myself (aged 16-19) and am now looking to investigate the topic for a possible article.

Thanks for your insight

I went to one of London's top 3 drama schools at the age of 19 and along with me were a number of female students who'd attended full-time dance school.

They were without exception quite damaged in terms of physical health and mental health.

If they weren't already Anorexic/Bulimic they were self-harming. There were 4 in my year...every one had an eating disorder. A number in other years above and below and they weren't the best adjusted kids either.

Gosh, that's incredible that all four suffered from that. Thanks for the insight.

It’s still prevalent but some schools are much better at dealing with issues than others.

My dd’s School promotes good nutrition and a healthy attitude to food but there have been some children who have had issues (sometimes stemming from before they joined the school) but they have been supported.

It might be worth you looking up the inspection reports of certain schools as I know there had been a major issue recently with regards to bullying and staff attitudes.

In answer to your specific query re eating disorders, my DD attends a full time PA school though not in the dance specialism.
At her school all students are weighed at the start of the year, and healthy BMI is encouraged. Students with a low BMI are carefully monitored and will be withdrawn from dance or other vocational training if their BMI falls below a threshold. Support is provided initially by the nursing staff in the school medical centre, and the school counsellor. Plus teaching staff and house mothers in the boarding area.
The full detail is publicly available on the school’s website, and given there are only a handful of such schools I expect you have reviewed the documents as part of your research.
There is a lot of research about how children who are in the PA, and particularly dancers, have the perfectionist mindsets which make them vulnerable to eating disorders. Again I’m sure you are aware of this but I’m repeating it for the benefit if any parents reading this.

Here’s a recent article published in Pointe magazine
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.pointemagazine.com/eating-disorders-ballet-2602027646.amp.html

From our experience the dance schools - lower schools anyway - are very good at monitoring growth and weight and act quickly in practical terms if a child’s BMI is too low, taking them off dance until they gain weight etc.

Dealing with mental health issues in general however, is a different story altogether. I don’t think they have any clue how to help the pupils cope with the enormous pressure they are under. Parents are left to source help for their children themselves.

This is all very helpful. Yes, I have read reports from the various schools and see there is a big variation. I think the first-hand experience speaks volumes whereas a report is more general.

It's great to hear there are improvements underway, in terms of recording BMIs.

The 'reports' from the various schools are not worth the paper they are written on, nor are their safeguarding / student welfare policies. Talk about sweeping things under the carpet.

You can pm me if you like.

DD is a boarding student at one of the ‘big 4’. They monitor students carefully and students are taught healthy lifestyles in terms of eating as well as mental health. They have a balanced diet with lots of variety, and students have height and weight checks each term. Any student that has a BMI that is too low is monitored at mealtimes. They have lots of focus on well-being, and as a secondary teacher myself have seen less causes for concern amongst dancing DD and her friends than I see in my job in a regular secondary school. Ballet school has come a long way since the 90s.

Many thanks for the comments. Both positive and negative are extremely helpful!