title: Body mass index, nutritional knowledge, and eating behaviors in elite student and professional ballet dancers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is recognized that there is a high esthetic demand in ballet, and this has implications on dancers' body mass index (BMI) and eating behaviors. The objective of this study was to examine the association between BMI, eating attitudes, and nutritional knowledge of elite student and professional ballet dancers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Institutional.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred eighty-nine participants from an elite full-time dance school (M = 53, F = 86) and from an elite ballet company (M = 16, F = 25) volunteered for the study. There were no exclusion criteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anthropometric data (height and mass), General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ), and the Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26) were collected from each participant.
  
  
  METHODS
  Univariate analysis of variance was used to examine differences in gender and group for BMI, GNKQ, and EAT-26. Regression analyses were applied to examine interactions between BMI, GNKQ, and EAT-26.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Professional dancers had significantly greater BMI than student dancers (P < 0.001), and males had significantly higher BMI scores than females (P < 0.05). Food knowledge increased with age (P < 0.001) with no gender difference. Student dancers had a significant interaction between year group and gender because of significantly higher EAT-26 scores for females in years 10 and 12. Regression analysis of the subcategories (gender and group) reported a number of significant relationships between BMI, GNKQ, and EAT-26.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that dancers with disordered eating also display lower levels of nutritional knowledge, and this may have an impact on BMI. Female students' eating attitudes and BMI should especially be monitored during periods of adolescent development.
authors: *Research Centre for Sport, Exercise and Performance, University of Wolverhampton, Walsall, United Kingdom, †National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science, Birmingham, United Kingdom, and ‡English Institute of Sport, Bisham Abbey, Marlow, United Kingdom.
authors: Matthew A
authors: MA
authors: Wyon
authors: Kate M
authors: KM
authors: Hutchings
authors: Abigail
authors: A
authors: Wells
authors: Alan M
authors: AM
authors: Nevill
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003615:Dancing; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D052756:Nutritional Sciences; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness; D055815:Young Adult