Cardiometabolic health profile of young girls with aesthetic professions

In the literature, professions that impose body standards for daily performance are designated as non-conventional professions (i.e. models, athletes, ballet dancers), with great emphasis on the female population. More than a job, it becomes a lifestyle to those inserted in this environment, thus, thousands of children and adolescents seek inclusion and success in these professions due to financial and media gains. Such professions are associated with several health-related risk factors. The purpose of this study was to identify and compare among physical fitness levels, cardiometabolic health markers, mental health and dietary habits in non-conventional professions. The sample consisted of 41 female individuals aged between 14 and 24 years, allocated into four groups, control group composed by university students (UG = 11), models (MG = 11), ballet dancers (BG = 11), and athletes' group (AG = 8). Physical fitness outcomes (cardiorespiratory fitness, flexibility, maximal dynamic strength, muscular endurance and body composition); biochemical outcomes (high-density lipoprotein [HDL], low-density lipoprotein [LDL], total cholesterol [TC], fasting glucose [FG], fasting insulin [FI], C-reactive protein [CRP]), diet quality and mental health were evaluated. No impairments were observed in the health markers evaluated among groups, both for health-related physical fitness and biochemical outcomes. However, low levels of bone mineral density (BMD) were observed. Even with statistically significant differences between the groups for chronological age (p = 0.002), menarche (p = 0.004), career length (p = 0.001), height (p = 0.001), body mass index (p = 0.018), waist-to-height ratio (p