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

Abstract

<jats:p>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.</jats:p>

Risk Factors of Overweight and Obesity Related to Diet and Disordered Eating Attitudes in Adolescent Girls with Clinical Features of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

“…Eating behavior was assessed with a standard EAT-26, a self-administrated questionnaire used worldwide [11,12]. The questionnaire consists of 26 questions related to attitudes and beliefs, behavior related to eating, the perception of appearance, and body weight.…”

“…The authors of EAT-26 included five questions related to inducing vomiting, the use of cathartics, feeling of having no control over food intake, excessive physical activity, and significant weight loss over a short period. In order to determine whether a participant is susceptible to disordered eating behavior, it sufficed that they selected an answer in the EAT-26 questionnaire related to such a pathological behavior regardless of the frequency [11,12,[38][39][40].…”

“…Eating disorders (ED) are mental disorders defined by abnormal eating habits that negatively affect a person’s physical or mental health. The most common eating disorder is binge eating disorder [ 10 , 11 ]. Among all the screening tools used to assess disordered eating attitudes, the EAT is the most commonly used because of its reliability and repeatability in detecting eating disorders in the general population [ 11 , 12 ].…”

“…The most common eating disorder is binge eating disorder [ 10 , 11 ]. Among all the screening tools used to assess disordered eating attitudes, the EAT is the most commonly used because of its reliability and repeatability in detecting eating disorders in the general population [ 11 , 12 ]. It has been proven that in women with PCOS, ED are more common [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

Advances in Eating Disorders

“…To address this important health issue, the current Special Issue collected 21 articles examining the most recent and relevant scientific findings regarding advances in ED. The published articles comprised three reviews and 18 research articles focusing on different aspects, such as genetic [ 7 ] and epigenetic factors [ 8 ], biomarkers [ 9 ], comorbidity [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], clinical phenotypes [ 15 , 16 ], neurocognition [ 12 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], treatment predictors [ 22 ], and treatment models and therapeutic targets [ 19 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Altogether, these studies may provide increased knowledge about the pathogenesis, the risk factors, the maintenance factors, and the most appropriate treatments tools for ED.…”