IADMS Madrid 2001   [back to the Category]

Cigarette smoking prevalence and the effect of modeling in the dance world   [read the french version]

Author :   Virginia Wilmerding PhD

Cigarette smoking prevalence and the effect of modeling in the dance world

Virginia Wilmerding PhD, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA; Bonnie Robson, MD, FRCP, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Cigarette smoking continues to be a major international health problem that specifically affects adolescents. This is of particular concern because most adult smokers report their first contact with smoking occurring before the age of 18. Research has established figures of initiation rates to be as low as 5% and as high as 28%, with the male samples consistently smoking at a slightly higher rate than female samples. The American Lung Association's Trend Report on Cigarette Smoking reports the average percentage of adolescent smoking to be 16.7%. Other research has placed this number to be roughly twice as high and has documented an increase in adolescent smoking prevalence in the decade of the nineties (National Health Interview Survey).

Methods: A questionnaire has been developed in Canada that is specifically focused on the young dancer's health. It has been distributed to three countries over two continents and has amassed as respondent number of 257. Participants averaged 16 years of age and 90% were female. The dancers were divided into smokers (3X a month or more) and non-smokers. Questions specifically pertaining to smoking incidence, health and injury status, co-morbidity of other factors (eating disorders and weight control methods, alcohol consumption, drug use, etc), and smoking prevalence in adult mentors were analyzed by Chi square analysis and t-tests.

Results: Nearly one third of the dancers that responded identified that they are smokers. It is interesting to note, as well, that this figure has risen slowly over the past three years that this questionnaire has been in use. Results of this analysis are mostly consistent with previous findings. Dancers who smoke even occasionally have a higher injury rate and lower overall health. This sample however, displayed a negative correlation between co-morbid behaviors (use of weight control methods such as vomiting and diet pill use) and smoking. On the other hand, the smokers did indicate dissatisfaction with their body weight. Finally, nearly two thirds of the smokers identified that they trained with a teacher who was also a smoker.

Discussion: It has been established that smoking causes an increase in exercise related injuries, causes increased bone loss, and decreased aerobic capacity. Intellectually, it would seem imprudent for a dancer intent on a professional career to begin such a habit. It is possible that the smoking students of this sample are not the typical driven, perfectionist dance student. This sample of smokers may be less motivated than their non-smoking peers to achieve success as professional dancers. Consideration must be given to the fact that students who smoke are most likely to have teachers who smoke. The relationship and impact of the teacher, choreographer and director that smokes in the presence of their students should be given serious consideration. Effective prevention must go beyond informing dancers of the health risks and include a potential change in the modeling behavior of the dance mentor.