Ballet and scoliosis
I wanted to post a link to the one article I found on scoliosis and ballet (I'd been holding off, but everyone here seems pretty research-savvy). Here's the official link:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056...98605223142104
And then the group at early onset put up a xerox of the full study:
http://early-onset-scoliosis.com/Doc...n%20Ballet.pdf
This is a study of young women (in their early 20s) in professional ballet companies. They report a 24% prevalence rate of scoliosis, but don't say (on my quick scan) exactly how they're defining it - i.e., are they counting tiny curves? Or are all these curves over 15 degrees.
Anyway, the interesting thing (IMO) is the chart on the 3rd page where they show the age of the first period in the women with and without scoliosis. While it's possible that there's some third thing causing both the delayed onset of periods and the scoliosis, it makes more intuitive sense that the delayed periods are what's increasing the risk of scoliosis.
I only see this one study on this topic, but I do think it might be worthwhile for anyone with a child doing intensive ballet to talk to their orthopedic surgeon and maybe a general GP to get a sense of whether there's something in the intense exercise which is delaying periods and, therefore, increasing the risk of scoliosis. I absolutely wouldn't change any kids' life based just on my (probably) faulty interpretation of the research, but I would raise it with someone qualified who could either lay your fears to rest or (maybe) suggest a less intensive schedule.
I wanted to post a link to the one article I found on scoliosis and ballet (I'd been holding off, but everyone here seems pretty research-savvy). Here's the official link:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056...98605223142104
And then the group at early onset put up a xerox of the full study:
http://early-onset-scoliosis.com/Doc...n%20Ballet.pdf
This is a study of young women (in their early 20s) in professional ballet companies. They report a 24% prevalence rate of scoliosis, but don't say (on my quick scan) exactly how they're defining it - i.e., are they counting tiny curves? Or are all these curves over 15 degrees.
Anyway, the interesting thing (IMO) is the chart on the 3rd page where they show the age of the first period in the women with and without scoliosis. While it's possible that there's some third thing causing both the delayed onset of periods and the scoliosis, it makes more intuitive sense that the delayed periods are what's increasing the risk of scoliosis.
I only see this one study on this topic, but I do think it might be worthwhile for anyone with a child doing intensive ballet to talk to their orthopedic surgeon and maybe a general GP to get a sense of whether there's something in the intense exercise which is delaying periods and, therefore, increasing the risk of scoliosis. I absolutely wouldn't change any kids' life based just on my (probably) faulty interpretation of the research, but I would raise it with someone qualified who could either lay your fears to rest or (maybe) suggest a less intensive schedule.
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