Evaluation of nutritional status, satisfaction with body image, consumption and eating behavior of classical ballet students at a dance school in Belém-PA

Introduction: For Ballet practitioners, demands on body characteristics may be frequent, leading to distortion and dissatisfaction with body image, and contributing to the evolution of inappropriate eating behaviors. Objective: To evaluate the nutritional status, satisfaction with body image, consumption and eating behavior of students of Classical Ballet at a dance school in Belém, Pará. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study with a sample of 18 practicing students of classical ballet. The BSQ-34 (Body Shape Questionnaire) and Silhouettes Scale questionnaires were used to identify body image perception. The EAT-26 (Eating Attitudes Test) questionnaire to verify the presence of risk of eating disorders. Anthropometric measurements were performed to estimate nutritional status. Food intake was measured using a food frequency questionnaire, using only the qualitative data. Results: According to the scale of silhouettes, the great majority (88.9%) of the evaluated ones were dissatisfied with their body image. Through the BSQ-34 the value of dissatisfied was 47.1%. There was a risk of eating disorders in 41.2% of those evaluated. There was no statistically significant difference between body image categories and food consumption. Discussion: These parameters are similar to many studies in the literature. Conclusion: There was a prevalence of eutrophy and dissatisfaction with body image, in addition to considerable risk for the development of eating disorders. As for the categories of food consumed, the most frequently ingested was processed.