4d(continued) Finding Literature

As I have been turning to various pieces of literature, whether online or within books, for references and information that will help with my professional inquiry. It has been increasingly difficult find different sources of information. It was brought to my attention that "Google" had a page to their website called "Google Scholar". This page enable you to search whatever you wish and produces a wide range of articles, reports and literature related to your search. My first search was "Healthy Dancer" and many weblinks were listed.

I was able to find an article named "The Dancer as a performing athlete" which referred to my line of inquiry. In particular the article referred to professional ballet dancers and their diets;

"The Dancer as a Performing Athlete", Sports Medicine, August 2004, Volume 34, Issue 10
Prof. Yiannis Koutedakis and Athanasios Jamurtas

 "...body weight targets are normally met by low energy intakes, with female dance students and professional ballerinas reported to consume below 70% and 80% of the recommended daily allowance of energy intake, respectively, while the female athlete 'triad' of disordered eating, amenorrhoea and osteoporosis is now recognized and is seen just as commonly in dancers.

An awareness of these factors will assist dancers and their teachers to improve training techniques to employ effective injury prevention strategies and to determine better physical conditioning."

This quote recognises the same need of more nutritional education for dancers that has inspired my wish to research it for my professional inquiry. It confirms my belief that I am not the only dancer who struggles as a result of my lack of knowledge but shows that malnutrition within dancers is a common and very effective problem.

4a (Continued) Inquiry Questions

Following my initial inquiry ideas, I have created a list of questions for the research line of my professional inquiry:

• What does Nutrition mean to dancers?
• What are the physical or psychological repercussions to a dancer's diet?
• What are the dietary requirements for professional dancers?
• How does a dancer approach achieving the correct nutrition?
• What is the current education situation concerning nutrition in vocational schools and professional organisations?

These questions will be the foundation of my inquiry research. From here I will be able to branch out within the subject with the results I collect.