Somatotype Components as Useful Predictors of Disordered Eating Attitudes in Young Female Ballet Dance Students.

José Ramón Alvero-Cruz,Verónica Parent Mathias,Jerónimo C García-Romero

doi:10.3390/jcm9072024

José Ramón Alvero-Cruz, Verónica Parent Mathias + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9072024

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Abstract

The current study used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to examine the accuracy of somatotype components in correctly classifying disordered eating attitudes (DEA) in female dance students. Participants were a sample of 81 female dancers distributed in two groups: beginner training (BT; age (mean ± SD) = 10.09 ± 1.2 years, n = 32) and advanced training (AT; age = 15.37 ± 2.1 years, n = 49). For evaluation of DEA, the Eating Attitudes Test- 26 (EAT-26) questionnaire was used. We defined an EAT-26 score ≥20 as positive for DEA. Somatotype components were calculated using the Heath-Carter anthropometric method. The risk of presenting DEA was 28.1% (n = 9) in the BT group and 6.1% (n = 3) in the AT group. In the BT group, mesomorphy demonstrated moderate–high accuracy in predicting DEA (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64–0.93). The optimal cut-off of 6.34 yielded a sensitivity of 0.77 and a specificity of 0.95. Ectomorphy showed moderate accuracy in predicting DEA (AUC = 0.768, 95% CI: 0.58–0.89). The optimal cut-off of 2.41 yielded a sensitivity of 0.78 and a specificity of 0.78. In the AT group, none of the components demonstrated accuracy in predicting DEA. Somatotype components were good predictors of disordered eating attitudes in the younger dance student group (beginner training). Further research is needed to identify the determinants of these differences between the two groups.

Highlights

Eating disorders (EDs) are mental disorders defined by abnormal eating habits that negatively affect a person’s physical or mental health
The psychometric assessment of the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) subscales showed differences between the groups only in bulimia (p = 0.004), the values of the diet subscale and the total score were higher in the beginner training (BT) group (Table 1)
The differences in the somatotype component associations between the study groups can be explained by the following reasons: the shorter height in the BT group increased mesomorphy scores, and no significant differences in mesomorphy scores were found between groups, the levels were slightly higher in the BT group

Summary

Introduction

Eating disorders (EDs) are mental disorders defined by abnormal eating habits that negatively affect a person’s physical or mental health. One of the main EDs, has two distinct symptoms: low body weight (body mass index (BMI) less than 17.5 kg/m2 or less than 85% of the expected weight for height, age and sex) and body image disturbance. Others EDs include avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, pica, regurgitation disorders, and other specified feeding and eating disorder [1]. The influence of cultural and social factors on the development of EDs and their manifestations have been investigated from multiple perspectives [3]. The reasons for these rates of EDs have been centered on elements including personality factors and traits such as perfectionism and low self-esteem

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