The prevalence of eating disorders in dancers is troubling and needs to change. The pressure on ballerinas to fit a specific body type has caused controversy and affects young dancers today.

Dancers develop EDs because of the extreme pressure they’re under to look a certain way, especially during puberty. Most dancers take on ballet during childhood to perfect the art as early as possible, donning the tight clothing amidst mirror-covered walls most dance studios require.

Dancers may face a lack of roles if they are seen by their company as “not skinny enough.” The competition to be the best and look the best, with the addition of hormones, long hours, and constant comparisons, can lead to dangerous behavior.

In dance, it’s estimated by The Washington Post that 12% of dancers struggle with an eating disorder, and eating disorders in ballet dancers are 10 times more common than in non-ballet dancers. The institution as a whole needs to change to be more accepting of dancers with different body types. It has been debated that eating disorders such as anorexia are part of “ballet culture” as they are almost a rite of passage at some point for most ballerinas. “A perfectionist personality can make the dancer intolerant of any physical changes…the disorders start early, as young as 12,” New York psychologist Linda Hamilton said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Since ballet training typically begins around age seven, young girls are often subject to harsh judgment around their most vulnerable ages, making them more predisposed to having a “perfectionist personality,” and more likely to develop some type of eating disorder. When children are forced to pick apart their every move and perfect every skill, they turn on themselves and try to focus on what they can control the most; not their skill, but their size. After all, it is common in the world of ballet to focus on the size of the ballerina just as much as their craft.

In 2001, the San Francisco ballet school was accused of violating city law against size discrimination for rejecting an 8-year-old allegedly deemed too large to dance. “I wasn’t skinny enough…almost all the girls in S.F. Ballet are kind of skinny, and they’re really tall. And I’m too short, I guess,” fourth grader Fredrika Keefer said.

While this problem has affected and continues to affect dancers, it can be resolved for future generations. The “ideal” body type of dancers is an outdated standard that shouldn’t have entered the space at all. Eating disorders being seen as normal in any circumstance is sickening and has to be changed, starting from the institution. Ballet companies must start accepting dancers based on their talent alone and what they bring to the table in that aspect. It’s time to put our feet down on this issue, even if they’re in pointe shoes.