The Claim

In female competitive contemporary dancers, lower energy availability, calculated as energy intake minus exercise expenditure divided by fat-free mass, is associated with a higher prevalence of soft-tissue injuries, with each unit decrease in energy availability score increasing injury likelihood by 16% (OR=0.84, 95% CI: 0.71–0.95).

Source: (Low) Energy Availability and Its Association with Injury Occurrence in Competitive Dance: Cross-Sectional Analysis in Female Dancers

What the research says

Supports is higher

Support is ahead, but a single strong opposing study can change this.

Supports
44score
Challenges
0score

These are independent scores, not a percentage. Higher-grade studies count more, so a single strong opposing study can outweigh several weaker ones.

Correlation
1 study reviewed
In plain English

Female competitive contemporary dancers with lower energy availability relative to their fat-free mass have a higher rate of soft-tissue injuries, with each unit decrease in energy availability score increasing injury risk by 16%.

See the scientific wording

In female competitive contemporary dancers, lower energy availability, measured as energy intake minus exercise expenditure divided by fat-free mass, is associated with a higher prevalence of soft-tissue injuries, with each unit decrease in energy availability score (EAS) increasing injury likelihood by 16% (OR=0.84, 95% CI: 0.71–0.95), suggesting inadequate nutritional support for training demands may impair muscle resilience.

Why this might work

When dancers don't eat enough to match their intense training, their muscles don't get enough fuel or building blocks to recover. This makes muscles weaker and slower to respond, causing them to move in unnatural ways during dance. These faulty movements put extra strain on tendons and ligaments, which tear or inflame over time because they can't handle the repeated stress without proper muscle support.

Verified mechanismbased on 1 study

What the research says

1 study

  1. Study: (Low) Energy Availability and Its Association with Injury Occurrence in Competitive Dance: Cross-Sectional Analysis in Female Dancers

    Female dancers who don’t eat enough to match their intense training are more likely to get muscle and tendon injuries, and this study shows that the less energy they have available, the higher their injury risk.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies

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