Customer Reviews

Diet for Dancers: A Complete Guide to Nutrition and Weight Control

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found it shocking and irresponsible that in his review of Chmelar and Fitt's Diet for Dancers, Matthew McCarthy chose to take a few phrases out of context to paint a completely inaccurate portrait of what is the best book I've read on diet and nutrition for dancers.

Chmelar and Fitt are not telling dancers they have to be thin; rather they are reporting the realities that face most dancers who pursue careers in theatrical performing dance and encourage dancers who do not fit the body composition standards for being a professional ballet dancer to seek a style of dance that suits their bodies. Chmelar and Fitt are the only authors I know of who have assembled actual research on the body compositions of15 female professional and university, ballet and modern dancers and compared them to those of five kinds of female athletes. These results show that such dancers need to fit into a pretty narrow range of percent body fat and weight relative to height. For example, university female ballet dancers have a percent body fat range of 9.6% to 20.5% , an average weight of 117.7 +/- 10.4 pounds, and an average height of 65.3 +/-2.0 inches. Similar values are given for female university modern dancers as well as professional ballet and modern dancers. These values are substantially below what is considered an average healthy weight for nondance women. Yet the values for these same categories of male dancers are very similar to those of healthy nondance men. So it is the research that shows that female dancers have to maintain a lower than healthy average body weight; Chmelar and Fitt are simply reporting the facts. Mr. McCarthy seems to be shooting the messenger.

Yet C&F do more than simply report the facts; they also give their opinions on how to promote healthy weight expectations for female dancers. In the section "Professional Realities and Ethical Considerations" p43 C&F write, "In no way can this or any other book dictate what a school or company's weight standards should be...We can offer guidelines based on our current knowledge, but any dancer who reaches professional status is bound to be met by strict standards.... Directors, faculty, and students in university programs should ask themselves a number of questions (some of which mighght also be considered by professional companies) such as: Should we have weight standards? If so, how strict should they be for performing-emphasis students? Should we have weight standards for students going into nonperformance dance fields? What kind of policy should we have for students who don't meet weight standards? Are we familiar with appropriate referral sources for students with eating disorders? How do we strike a health balance between ensuring our dancers are healthy yet meet the aesthetic standards of dance? And what are those aesthetic standards?
There are obviously a variety of answers to these questions; however, the important thing is that they be discussed openly among faculty and student representatives." To me this shows an exceedingly responsible attitude on the part of the authors for both recognizing the pressures of the real world in certain areas of dance and in encouraging dancers, instructors, and directors to recognize their responsiblities in shaping healthy aesthetic expectations for body weight among dancers.

Also, in the section "Genetic Influences on Body Composition" C&F advise dancers who don't fit the ballerina mold. On p44 they write: "Research conducted by former New York City Ballet dancer Linda Hamilton....underscores the pivotal role genetics plays in determining a person's body composition. For those dancers seeking a career with a professional ballet company, this issue should be carefully considered. Dancers who do not naturally tend towards such thinness can certainly use appropriate diet and exercise measures to help get them to their desired body weight; however, sooner or later they may have to choose between battling their inherited body traits and modifying their dance goals. For those dancers not born with sylph-producing DNA, energy can be refocused toward dance careers that do not require an ultra-thin body, and also toward maintaining a healthy, fit body composition rather than trying to force an unhealthy skinny one. [Emphasis added.]."
This is as far from "shocking and irresponsible" as I can imagine. It's easy to make a book seem like something it's not by taking a few phrases out of context. Mr. McCarthy's review makes me wonder if he read the same book I did.

Mr. McCarthy recommends that dancers "buy a book about healthy nutrition instead." I know no other book that explains the way diet and exercise interacts as it applies to dancers, lists the functions of all vitamins and minerals, and notes those nutrients in which research has shown dancers to be deficient. If dancers want a book that is both about healthy nutrition and also applies to their specific dietary needs, this is it. I'm only sorry that the dancers at the London Contemporary School of Dance will not have access to this book in their school library.

I bought this book wondering what I would find. Too many of the reviews here would like to make this book out to be a guide to starving oneself thin. The book is very complex, offering the physiology of how food breaks down in the body, how starvation and very low calorie consumption adversely effects the body, and how to calculate proper caloric intake based on weight and activity level. The recommened diet is the Exchange Program, that would be the American Diabetic Assoc. diet. The very same one physicians instruct persons with type 2 diabetes to use. This diet ensures that you eat a variety of foods (starches, meat, veggies, fruits, milk/dairy, and fat) and do not have to directly count calories. This is not a quick weight-loss plan, in fact the book testifies to the fact that this is a slow proccess. I couldn't find anything in this book that recommended unhealthy practices to lose weight.
Bottom Line:This diet WILL work and is not encouraging dangerous behavior in dancers or everyday folks!

this book is a necessity for all serious and recreational dancers! It helped me reach a new level in my dancing by giving me guidelines in how to maintain a healthy weight and how to acheive an optimum state of health required in both the professional and pre-profession dance worlds. Even those who are not dancers but want to achieve a healthy body and sustain a healthy lifestyle will benifit greatly from this book. It not only outlines dietary necessities but also stresses the importance of excerise and keeping a well balanced lifestyle.

This is an awesome little gem of a book. My family are very learned in health/nutrition stuff, but the scientific explanations here are in-depth and important to understanding weight-loss physiology.

What's wonderful about this book is that, while most fat-loss books address the needs of someone who is medically overweight and needs to slim down, this book focuses on people who are already medically thin to begin with, but need to slim down further. Even more importantly, it does this while putting a paramount on your body's health and keeping a watchful eye over eating disorders, which it addresses in a straightforward manner and honestly. A+++ !!

Chmelar & Fitt have created a wonderful tool for the professional and amateur dancer, and for those who dance just for fun, who want to learn how to maintain good eating habits for a lifetime and be happy with their individual body shapes. Whether you would like to lose a little or gain a little or simply maintain your body shape, this book teaches you how to see for yourself the eating habits that need to be learned and unlearned in order to reach your ultimate goal! The difference here is with Chmelar's and Fitt's positive writing style, which makes the reader feel as if anything is possible! Great Stuff!

This book was an unexpected present from someone who saw I was putting on a belly :o)

It's a good read, even for non dancers like me. A lot of statistical information is provided about dancers, mainly to give a picture of what their common eating mistakes are. While this wasn't very useful to me, I could just skip it and still understand the rest of the book.

It covers three areas:
1. an introduction to nutrition
2. the biology of weight
3. the transfer diet, a diet developped for diabetics


The first two parts are very interesting and a worthwhile read for anyone. The knowledge you gain about nutrition will be useful no matter who you are. The third is sound advice, it is a diet where you can set your target amount of daily calories, while ensuring that you eat from every important nutrient group and therefor stay healthy. HOWEVER, if all you are looking for is information about the transfer diet, you can find free info on the net (try the american diabetics association, for instance).

Written during the Balanchine era, this book works in a way that can actually encourage an eating disorder or create more motivation for someone who already has one. This comes from someone with an eating disorder. While this book does have interesting information and even a couple pages to identity eating disorders, it's important to keep in mind the time this book was written during a different era in ballet and that the biological information is out of date. I verified that with a medical professional.

The average heights, weights, etc., were also taken from quite a while ago, as far as ballet goes. Different ideals are in place now that then. To strive to be the ideal dancer in this book would be to strive to being too thin by modern ballet standards, which is still pretty damned thin.

An updated edition written in a different way would be a better alternative. Otherwise, this book should only be put into the hands of healthy adults without tendency toward eating disorders.

This book helped be understand WHAT kind of exercise I needed to do in order to lose body FAT. I'm not in the "overweight" category, so books that tell you to "just take a walk" or "take the stairs instead of the elevator" aren't the most useful (I already do those things).

I'm not a dancer but I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to go down ONE size, and doesn't need to go down 3 or 4.

I refer to this book frequently. It's concise and informative; the authors are sensitive to body issues and eating disorders. It's the only book I've found that has provided a comprehensive guide to determining fat percentages, how to burn fat, what to reasonably expect, and a diet guide and explanation of the Exchange System (from the American Diabetic Association).

I've had the greatest -fat- loss success using this book as a guide. My main tip: at the very least, you better get used to exercising, at a moderate pace (defined elsewhere as 100 steps/minute), 4 to 5 times a week, for 40 - 60 minutes. While the right foods are critical, only when I exercise can I maintain my motivation to change my food preferences.

A previous poster who wrote this book encourages eating disorders - I don't think they read the book fully. There's a chapter that reviews the basic psychological conditions behind eating disorders and suggests healthful strategies to combat them. It's useful for anyone struggling with food in some way.

Finally a book for dancers. all ballerinas KNOW we have a different set of standards to adhere to, and FINALLY, theres a book that pops up and helps us instead of attacking. I think the skinnyhaters need to calm down and understand dancers live on a whoole different PLANET. To Chmelar and Fitt - i adore you, thank you, thank you, thank you.