Approche des dimensions pondérales et corporelles de jeunes danseuses classiques amatrices vs professionnelles

The high frequency of eating disorders in the field of the ballet dancing was already been subject to numerous studies. The majority of the authors compare ballet dancers to anorexic females or to a female general community. None compared ballet dancers wishing to become professional with amateur ballet dancers. Does the desire to become professional imply a possible pathological component? The population is made up of 52 dancers aged 16.4 (± 3,1). All answered a general questionnaire and another focused on dance. They also filled the Eating Attitudes Test, the Figure Rating Scale, and the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearence Questionnaire. The analysis of the results reveals that: 1) the ballet dancers display a current and ideal weight, a current and ideal Body Mass Index, a current and ideal silhouette lower than those of the amateur ballet dancers; 2) the presence of eating disorders is not more important in the pool of professional dancers than in that of the amateurs; 3) the desire to become professional is not accompanied by a body dissatisfaction; 4) the body image conveyed by society is not more important in the professional dancers than in the amateur; 5) the ballet dancers presenting attitudes of control in their activity of dance do not have a body dissatisfaction and a sensitivity to the impact of body modelling more important than the amatrices. The authors ponder over the revelance of tools and devices of steady control to locate the difficulties (adaptative in a first stage) of the girls potentially at risk. They also put forward the need to carrying out primary actions of prevention on this subject on the children, the teenagers, the parents and the teachers.