Eating disorders and associated factors in professional classical ballet dancers in Brazil

DOI: 10.15343/0104-7809.20194302456471

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of eating disorder (ED) symptoms in professional Brazilian classical ballet dancers of both sexes, as well as to verify possible associations between ED symptoms and the studied variables (age, years of practice, BMI and satisfaction with body image). 105 dancers from both genres of Brazilian classical dance companies participated in the study. For data collection, a self-administered questionnaire was used, containing questions about general information and their practice, physical characteristics (body mass and stature), body image (silhouettes scale) and ED (EAT-26). Data were analyzed using descriptive (frequency, mean and standard deviation) and non-parametric inferential (Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U and Spearman Rank tests) statistics, and in all analyses the level of significance p ≤0.05 was adopted. The results showed a BMI within normal range (20.18 kg/m2) and 74.3% of the dancers were dissatisfied with their body image (60% dissatisfied due to excess weight and 14.3% dissatisfied due to excessive thinness). Regarding the symptoms of ED, 32.4% have symptoms, and on average, the dancers present behaviors related to diet and self-control. Significant differences in ED symptoms were found regarding years of practice for dancers and age range for dancers. In conclusion, classical ballet dancers demonstrated a high prevalence of ED symptoms, and differences were found between genders when associated with years of practice and age group.