Compared to student athletes, research on school-aged dance students is quite minimal. However, dance students spend comparable time in training and conditioning for dance performances and may also share body weight and nutritional concerns that parallel students who are involved in traditional sports. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine eating attitudes, body composition, and body image perceptions in a sample of secondary school dance students. One hundred eight female dancers with a mean age of 13.9 years and 6.2 years of dance experience, completed the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), were measured for body composition via skinfolds, and were asked to rate their body size in comparison to professional dancers using Skunkard Silhouettes. The results showed that the students had normative body fat percentages (mean = 21.1%). However, in comparing their perceived size to what they esteemed to be the ideal size of a professional dancer, a significant difference was noted (ANOVA, p. < .05). The students rated themselves as having larger bodies than what they presumed would be the ideal size for professional dance. In comparison, professional female dancers have exhibited similar attitudes rating their perceived body size to be significantly larger than what they believe to be an ideal size for a successful dancer. The results for the EAT-26 showed that, in general, the dance students did not exhibit scores consistent with those who have eating disorders. However, 15 dance students (about 14% of the sample) scored above the accepted cut-off for eating disorders. In the normal population, eating disorders are estimated to occur at a lesser rate of (between) 2-8%. In conclusion, a large sample of secondary dance students shows that their physical characteristics are typical for non-dance students of the same age. However, negative attitudes regarding eating and feelings of one's body size may, based on these results, begin to emerge in female dance students as early as 9th grade. Therefore, those teachers involved in public school dance curriculums should be aware of the possible onset of negative eating and body image attitudes in secondary school-aged dancers. Instructors may want to explore means for addressing body image and eating concerns in the school-aged female dance student.Keyword(s): dance education