Dancing enhances fitness, confidence levels in older women

A 16-week dance intervention appears to provide postmenopausal women with a host of benefits, including improvements in lipid profile and functional fitness, as well as in self-image and self-esteem, as reported in a study.

A total of 36 postmenopausal women (mean age 57 years) participated in the study. They underwent a dancing intervention, which involved 90-minute dance sessions performed three times per week for 16 weeks.

Researchers evaluated body composition (body fat and lean mass), blood lipids, functional fitness, self-image, and self-esteem prior to and after the intervention. They performed statistical analysis using Student t test for paired samples and the Wilcoxon test.

At the end of the intervention, the women showed marked changes in most of the outcomes examined. Specifically, triglycerides decreased from 156.5 mg/dL at baseline to 131.5 mg/dL at week 16 (p<0.01), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased from 55.4 mg/dL to 60.0 mg/dL (p<0.001), and total cholesterol rose from 199.5 mg/dL to 211.8 mg/dL (p<0.01).

The intervention also produced improvements in coordination (from 8.6 to 6.7; p<0.001), agility (from 55.9 to 64.1; p<0.001), and aerobic capability (from 446.8 to 377.4; p<0.001).

Finally, the general function fitness index (GFFI) classification improved from regular at baseline (GFFI of 200-299) to about 300–399 after 16 weeks of dancing (p<0.001).