摘要：Introduction. Previous studies have shown that inappropriate human nutrition is the common cause of eating disorders (especially orthorexia nervosa). the aim of this study was to investigate dietary habits and the risk of orthorexic behaviours among dancing school female students. Material and methods. The investigated group consisted of 400 female students aged 10-18 years who attended dancing schools. The dietary habits reported in the researched group were evaluated by collecting the data in a form of authors’ questionnaire which were subsequently elaborated by using brief diet quality index (DQI). When it comes to assessing the risk of orthorexic behaviours (ORTO-15). Results. While using the DQI scale, it was stated that 45% of all subjects reported good, 43% – satisfactory, and 12% had bad dietary habits. Good dietary habits were observed among 63% of the youngest girls, 33% of the oldest female students and 30% of the thirteen-, fourteen- and fifteenyear-olds. Bad dietary habits were observed among 24% of female students representing the 13-15 age group, 18% aged 16-18, and by none of the respondents aged 10-12 years. The genuine risk of eating disorder was diagnosed among 59% of research subjects. There were students who assessed their dietary habits as good (65%), and some who considered themselves as ‘too obese’ (73%). Statistical inference has shown the relationship between the positive outcome of the ORTO-15 questionnaire and participants’ incorrect perception of their own body image (p<0,05). Conclusions. The dancing school female students who declared increased physical activity, are marked by better dietary habits when compared to respondents with lower level of activity. The best dietary habits were reported by girls at the initial stage of learning at dancing schools. There is an actual risk of progressing eating disorders among dancing school female students.
