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Overweight and obesity in a sample of young soccer players undergoing the first preparticipation physical examination

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Abstract

Nowadays, there is an increasing awareness about the prevalence of overweight and obesity among young people in industrialized countries. During the first prepartecipation physical examination we measured the BMI of 238 male soccer players (mean age, 1.85±0.66 years). The mean BMI was 19.36±3.01 kg/m2. Considering the total of the athletes included, 74(31%) had a BMI >20.55 (cut-off value for overweight at the age of 11 years), while 9(3.78%) had a BMI >25.10 (cut-off for obesity at the age of 11 years). Stratifying the subjects by age, 72(26.3%) of the 11 year-old-boys were overweight and, 2(10%) were obese. In 12 year-old-boys (129), 24% were overweight while 4 (12.9%) were obese. In 13 year-old-boys (37), 32.4% were overweight and 1 (8.3%) was obese. In conclusion, our data confirm the prevalence of overweight and obesity even in a group of active young soccer player boys and confirm also the importance of the prepartecipation physical evaluation in detecting risk factors potentially linked with severe diseaseas in adult life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vita e Salute University, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy

    C. Cerizza

  2. CMS Sport Medical Center, Via Manin 110, 20090, Sesto San Giovanni (MI), Italy

    C. Menchise & E. Campanini

Authors
  1. C. Cerizza
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  2. C. Menchise
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  3. E. Campanini
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Correspondence to C. Menchise.

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Cerizza, C., Menchise, C. & Campanini, E. Overweight and obesity in a sample of young soccer players undergoing the first preparticipation physical examination. Sport Sci Health 2, 125–126 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-008-0051-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-008-0051-9

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