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Children may not get physical activity benefit from dance classes

Dance classes, one of the most common after-school activities among youths, do not appear to provide high levels of physical activity, with only a small percentage of participants meeting the CDC’s physical activity recommendations, according to recently published data in Pediatrics. 

“This is a very commonly used opportunity for young people, especially girls, to be physically active and we find that they are inactive most of the time during dance classes. Thought there are important social, developmental, cultural and aesthetics benefits of dance that should be maintained and strengthened, it should be possible to increase physical activity,” James Sallis, PhD, department of family medicine and public health at University California, San Diego, said in a press release.

To assess the physical activity levels in dance classes, researchers evaluated 264 girls, both children and adolescents, from 66 various classes among 17 private studios and 4 dance centers in San Diego, California. The majority of participants were non-Hispanic white with a mean age of 7.8 years for children, and 13.1 years for adolescents. Seven types of dance were examined, including ballet, jazz, hip-hop, flamenco, salsa/ballet folkorico, tap and partnered dance.

Overall, only 8% of children and 6% of adolescents in dance classes achieved the CDC’s 30 minute after-school physical activity guideline recommendations. Results demonstrated that only 36% of the time (17.2 minutes) in dance class was spent doing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, however, this average differed by both age and dance style.

Among children, activity levels varied widely between dance styles (P < .001), with hip-hop classes providing the most moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, with 57% of the class time devoted to it. Flamenco classes had the lowest levels of time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, with only 13.6% of class time allotted to it.

No significant differences in activity levels between dance styles was seen for adolescents.  

Participants who attended class at private dance studios were more likely to have more time being physically active in class, compared with those who attended a public dance center.

The researchers noted that pediatricians can help to make dance classes more beneficial to children who are interested by endorsing styles that are more active, such as jazz, hip hop and partnered styles. Additionally, partnering with local dance studios to commit to higher levels of physical activity could 

“Local pediatric organizations could compiles lists of public and private dance studios and indicate which have made commitments or taken steps to ensure relatively high levels of physical activity during dance classes,” the researcher concluded. – by Casey Hower

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.