IADMS New York 2002   [back to the Category]

A Survey of Menstrual Function in Adolescent Dancers   [read the french version]

Author :   John Lavender, MS, ATC-L

A Survey of Menstrual Function in Adolescent Dancers


John Lavender, MS, ATC-L
North Carolina School of the Arts
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA


North Carolina School of the Arts performs a biennial health screening on all our dancers. Characteristics assessed and recorded include menstrual cycle, age, height, weight, body fat percent, and BMI. 494 female classical ballet dancers and 494 female contemporary dancers have been assessed using this system. Statistical analysis of data collected shows no significant difference in any of the aforementioned characteristics for either group. It should be noted that 21% of all ballet dancers were considered to have secondary amenorrhea as compared to only 8.5% of contemporary dancers.
While there was no correlation between secondary amenorrhea and reduced body weight and fat mass, there was a tendency for the amenorrheic group (n=105) to have slightly higher body weight levels than the non-amenorrheic group (n=389) when looking at classical ballet dancers. There was no difference between the amenorrheic (n=42) and non-amenorrheic (n=452) contemporary dancers. When comparing between groups, data indicates that contemporary dancers were approximately 8 pounds heavier than the classical ballet dancers for the same height. It is possible that factors such as stress and nutritional deficits may be implicated in the presence of secondary amenorrhea in dancers.