Effect of nutrition education on food and beverage choices of adolescent female dancers

Lifestyle choices affect the risk of obesity and ill-health among youth. This study determined whether providing nutrition education to adolescent females enrolled in dance classes influenced their beverage and food choices. It was hypothesized that providing six 10-minute nutrition education sessions for three weeks to adolescent dancers would increase their healthy beverage and food choices. Sixteen girls (12-18 years), from two dance studios in Kingsport, Tennessee, completed this pre-test/post-test study. After nutrition education, soda consumption reduced by 7.7%; sugar sweetened beverages (excluding sodas) reduced by 23%; intakes of fruits and vegetables were enhanced by 5.6% and 21%, respectively. Paradoxically, home-cooked meals and breakfast consumption on dance practice days were reduced by 12.5% and 6.2%, respectively. Although some improvements in beverage and food choices were evident, these changes were not statistically significant due to the small sample size. The current study provides a framework for future studies on providing lifestyle education