Eating Disorders in Non-Dance Performing Artists: A Systematic Literature Review

Previous literature on dancers and athletes has shown a large impact of eating disorders (EDs) on these individuals, but there is limited research on EDs affecting non-dance performing artists (i.e., musicians, actors, etc.). This systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate the literature on EDs in non-dance performing artists.

A systematic review of the literature was performed on 24 databases, using search terms related to EDs and non-dance performing artists. All results from the databases were systematically screened for inclusion and exclusion criteria.

The initial search returned 86,383 total articles, which after screening and removal of duplicates and irrelevant papers yielded 129 results. After screening the 129 full-text results for eligibility, 10 studies met criteria for inclusion: 6 papers addressed EDs in musicians, and 4 papers addressed EDs in theatre performers. Most studies used questionnaires and body mass index (BMI) as diagnostic tools for EDs. Most were small-scale studies and participants were mostly students. Because of the studies' heterogeneity and varying quality, the results obtained were often contradictory and questionable.

Although there has been a lot of literature in dancers, we found relatively few studies associating EDs with other performing artists, and most were inconsistent in their information.