ABSTRACT
The aesthetic ideal may force dancers to have a control of body composition. Previous research has suggested that a desire to achieve or maintain the “ideal” performing body image may be a major factor motivating the high incidence of eating disorders observed among dancers[1, 2]. Dance is basically non-aerobic, therefore weight control and a thin body are primarily achieved though dietary restriction rather than from endurance training. The energy expenditure during dancing is not more than 200 kcal h-1 [2, 3, 4], Some works suggest that female dancers tend to be undernourished when compared with reference women of similar age[3] and inadequate ingestion of certain minerals may contribute to a health risk. This is of particular concern among female athletes such as gymnasts, long distance runners and ballet dancers who restrict caloric intake to maintain low body weight[5]. The evaluation of calcium intake and vitamin D is important because of the strong relationship between low calcium intake and reduced bone mass and stress fractures[2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8], It is beleived that ballet dancers eat less than the general population and may not make proper food choices in order to mantain a low body weight. The purpose of this study was to compare the characteristic eating habits of dancers with non-dancers in a performing arts boarding school and to examine their attitudes towards food selection.
