The Relationship Between Dance Training Volume, Body Composition, and Habitual Diet in Female Collegiate Dancers: The Intercollegiate Artistic Athlete Research Assessment (TIAARA) Study

Abstract

Background: This study’s purpose was to evaluate the relationship between dance training volume, body composition, and habitual diet in female collegiate dancers. Methods: Thirty-three female collegiate dancers from three dance programs (20.4 ± 1.05 yrs.; 165.4 ± 11.3 cm, BMI 21.3 ± 3.4 kg/m2) participated in “The Intercollegiate Artistic Athlete Research Assessment (TIAARA)” study. We assessed dance training volume, body composition, and habitual diet. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (means ± SD). Two-sample t-tests were conducted to compare reported intake values versus sports nutrition recommendations. Two-tailed Pearson correlations (r) were computed for body composition and dietary intake (p < 0.05). Results: Collegiate dancers were enrolled in 16 ± 2.09 semester credits, with 7.7 ± 3.8 credits as dance movement courses and an additional 3.0 ± 1.5 h/week of rehearsal time. Body composition assessments included fat mass (24.4 ± 6.8%), lean mass (LM) (42.4 ± 10.1 kg), and total body water (32.6 ± 4.6 L). Habitual diets reflected a low-calorie diet (1399 ± 648 kcal/d), with ~20% of dancers consuming a very low-calorie diet (≤1000 kcal/d). Dancers reported under-consuming dietary protein (54.3 ± 26.2 g) and carbohydrate (171.8 ± 77.8 g). LM was positively correlated with daily total energy (r = 0.333), fat (r = 0.37), protein (r = 0.349), and leucine intake (r = 0.352). Conclusions: Our findings emphasize the positive effect of adequate nutritional quantity and quality on body composition in female collegiate dancers.

Emaly Vatne

Assistant Sport Scientist at The Ohio State University Department of Athletics and Human Performance Collaborative

My research interests include applied sport science, effects of recovery interventions, and data analysis, visualization, and engineering.