Body Composition and the Comparison of Measurement Techniques in Different Levels and Styles of Dancers

Abstract

The physical appearance required in dance, particularly in terms of body weight and fat, is often a demand that hovers over the aspiring and professional dancer's career (Vincent, 1979). This investigation was intended to measure various aspects of body composition in different types of dancers, as well as use various methods. Measurements of percent body fat and lean weight may serve as a means of quantifying appearance in dance so that dancers may be guided towards appropriate body composition goals. This may be more reflective of the dancer's true physique than relying simply on total body weight, which does not take proportions of muscle and fat into account. Kirkendall and Calabrese (1983) have noted that attention must be paid to lean mass in dancers as well as percent fat. A method of evaluating the relationship between height, lean mass (fat free weight), and total weight was developed for this study to address the issue of proportion (i.e., a dancer who perhaps has a low percent fat level but is still considered too “heavy” because of a large muscle mass).Although hydrostatic weighing has been noted as “the gold standard” in body composition measurements (Nash, 1985), such methods are often unavailable or impractical for professional dancers or university dance departments. Anthropometric (or “skinfold”) methods have greater practicality, but may lack the individual accuracy of hydrostatic methods (Nash, 1985). Recently, electrical impedance has been cited as a convenient alternative to both underwater and skinfold techniques (Harrison & Van Italli, 1982; Presta, et al. 1984).

Body composition in dancers: the bioelectrical impedance method

“…These guidelines were based on several studies using various methods of body composition in university adult female dancers. However, the levels of fatness measured in the present study are in the middle to the upper range of the %BF values reported for dancers elsewhere (1,5,7,11,18,25,34), but one should bear in mind that these subjects were students in professional dance schools, being engaged in both ballet and modern dance activities. Professional dancers have characteristics that clearly differentiate them from dance students.…”

“…Consequently, its use as a criterion method may have important limitations and could limit the validity of the developed equation. The measurement of skinfolds has also been used in previous studies for the body composition assessment of ballet dancers (1,7,11,25). The percentage of body fat was estimated either by the widely used Durnin and Womersley equation (13) or by the Sinning equation (30) specifically developed for young gymnasts.…”

“…Previous studies investigated the body composition of female dancers aiming either to provide descriptive characteristics of dancers or to determine the optimal body composition which would maintain the best standards of health and improve training techniques (1,4,5,7,14,(17)(18)(19)21,25,34,37).…”

Assessment of body composition and nutritional risks in young ballet dancers – the bioelectrical impedance analysis

“…Our study’s subjects had the same characteristics (age, sex and racial, health and leanness status) with previous similar studies [ 2 , 9 , 10 ] and our results show analogue [ 11 ] and even lower [ 2 ] BF% values compared to dancers who were studied elsewhere.…”

“…The measurement of skinfolds has also been used in previous studies for the body composition assessment of ballet dancers [ 10 , 12 , 13 ]. It represents an indirect method for estimating the degree of body fatness easily, quickly, and inexpensively [ 14 ].…”