The unique nutritional needs of dancers generate a considerable challenge for health professionals. Currently, there is a gap in knowledge about the hydration status and fluid replacement behaviors in the dancer population. The aims of this research were to gather preliminary data to describe the current knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding fluid replacement in a population of collegiate dancers, as well as to determine if, and to what extent, those parameters change in response to a brief, individualized hydration education intervention. Eighteen healthy dance majors from The Florida State University School of Dance participated in this 5 week study and were randomly assigned to one of two groups (group A, n = 10; group B, n = 8). During weeks 1, 3 and 5, all participants completed hydration surveys and physiological measurements (changes in body weight and water bottle weight during dance classes) were taken. During weeks 2 (group A) and 4 (group B), participants received brief, individualized hydration education, which incorporated visual aids and goal setting, and a group seminar session at the end of the week, which addressed barriers to behavior changes. Hydration survey scores improved significantly in each section of the hydration survey (knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and total score) for each group over time (P ≤ 0.05), only following education. No significant differences were found for either group for the physiological measurements over time. Furthermore, there were no significant correlations between changes in body weight, fluid intake, and hydration survey scores. The findings suggest that dancers are deficient in hydration knowledge, attitudes, and reported behaviors, and confirm that an educational intervention effectively improves these parameters. However, the intervention did not seem to influence the observed physiological measurements. Future research is warranted in this area to help develop a more complete understanding of the hydration status of dancers, as well as to continue documenting outcomes regarding educational interventions with dancers. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2010. / October 25, 2010. / Hydration, Fluid Replacement, Dancers, Education / Includes bibliographical references. / Jenice Rankins, Professor Directing Thesis; Jodee Dorsey, Committee Member; Tom Welsh, Outside Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253960 |
| Contributors | Berkheimer, Jenna (authoraut), Rankins, Jenice (professor directing thesis), Dorsey, Jodee (committee member), Welsh, Tom (outside committee member), Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Science (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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