Weight perception of adolescent dancing school students
N. Vaisman, H. Voet, A. Akivis and I. Sive-Ner
Department of Paediatrics, Kaplan Hospital, Rehovot, Israel.
OBJECTIVE: To study the hypothesis that underweight may be more prevalent
among dancing school students than among nondancing school girls, and that
their teachers and peers may play a role in developing this tendency.
DESIGN: A case-control study on a convenience sample. SETTING: Two local
dancing schools and one neighboring regular school. PARTICIPANTS: Forty
ballet students, aged 13 to 17 years, from four classes and 29 age-matched
girls in four regular classes. INTERVENTION: None. MEASUREMENTS/MAIN
RESULTS: Each pupil was asked to classify herself and her peers as
underweight, normal, or overweight; teachers were asked to classify their
pupils by the same categories. Results were compared with an objective
score, weight as a percentage of ideal weight for height, in which less
than 85% indicates underweight; 85% to 115%, normal; and more than 115%,
overweight. A higher prevalence of underweight as well as a significant
tendency to overestimate self-evaluation was found among dancing students.
Dancing teachers' evaluation tended to be inaccurate, especially regarding
their underweight students. CONCLUSIONS: The atmosphere in dancing classes
may encourage striving for thinness beyond normal limits. Ballet teachers
may play a significant role in this process. We suggest that physicians and
nutritionists be involved in ballet schools.
