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Nachum Vaisman, MD; Hillary Voet, PhD; Alla Akivis, MD; Itzhak Sive-Ner, MD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1996;150(2):187-190.

Abstract
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.

(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1996;150:187-190)

Author Affiliations
From the Nutrition Clinic, Department of Paediatrics, Kaplan Hospital, Rehovot, Israel (Drs Vaisman and Akivis); Medical School, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel (Drs Vaisman, Akivis, and Voet); Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot (Dr Voet); and Israel Dance Medicine Center, Tel Aviv (Dr Sive-Ner).

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ABSTRACT