Access to CARE: How KU research seeks solutions for eating disorders

The pressure for ballet dancers to conform to expectations around weight, athleticism and beauty were thrust into the public eye almost 30 years ago with the death of a 22-year-old dancer in the Boston Ballet, Heidi Guenther.

In 1997, Guenther’s heart stopped while she was vacationing with family. Guenther was not underweight, but had been strictly dieting and taking laxatives, which led to a heart attack. Performers, dance companies and the media debated whether the emphasis on conforming to body standards contributed to Guenther’s death.

And for the first time, the realization that eating disorders could be fatal came into sharp focus for another professional dancer, Kelsie Forbush, now a professor of psychology at the University of Kansas.

View the fall issue of Crimson & Blue to continue reading this feature about research on eating disorders at the Center for the Advancement of Research on Eating Behaviors (CARE), at the KU Life Span Institute.