title: Physical activity levels of adolescent girls during dance classes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aims of this study were to describe the physical activity levels of girls during dance classes and to identify factors associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in those classes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 137 girls (11 to 18 years-old) enrolled in ballet, jazz, or tap dance classes from 11 dance studios. Participants wore an accelerometer during the selected dance class on 2 separate days. Factors hypothesized to be associated with MVPA were dance style, instructional level, instructor's experience, percent of class time spent in choreography, and participants' age, race/ethnicity, BMI-for-age percentile, and years of dance training. Data were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Girls engaged in 9.8 minutes of MVPA, 6.0 minutes of moderate, 3.8 minutes of vigorous, 39.3 minutes of light, and 10.9 minutes of sedentary behavior per hour of dance class participation. Jazz/tap classes provided more MVPA than ballet classes, and intermediate level classes provided more MVPA than advanced level classes. Girls with more dance training obtained more MVPA than girls with less dance training.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dance classes provide valuable opportunities for adolescent girls to be physically active.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Russell R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Pate
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Beets
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003615:Dancing / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors