title: Structural and functional cardiac adaptations to a 10-week school-based football intervention for 9-10-year-old children.
abstract: The present study investigated the cardiac effects of a 10-week football training intervention for school children aged 9-10 years using comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography as a part of a larger ongoing study. A total of 97 pupils from four school classes were cluster-randomized into a control group that maintained their usual activities (CON; two classes, n = 51, 21 boys and 30 girls) and a football training group that performed an additional 3 × 40 min of small-sided football training per week (FT; two classes, n = 46, 23 boys and 23 girls). No baseline differences were observed in age, body composition, or echocardiographic variables between FT and CON. After the 10-week intervention, left ventricular posterior wall diameter was increased in FT compared with CON [0.4 ± 0.7 vs -0.1 ± 0.6 (± SD) mm; P < 0.01] as was the interventricular septum thickness (0.2 ± 0.7 vs -0.2 ± 0.8 mm; P < 0.001). Global isovolumetric relaxation time increased more in FT than in CON (3.8 ± 10.4 vs -0.9 ± 6.6 ms, P < 0.05) while the change in ventricular systolic ejection fraction tended to be higher (1.4 ± 8.0 vs -1.1 ± 5.5%; P = 0.08). No changes were observed in resting heart rate or blood pressure. In conclusion, a short-term, school-based intervention comprising small-sided football sessions resulted in significant structural and functional cardiac adaptations in pre-adolescent children.
authors.affiliation: Copenhagen Centre for Team Sport and Health, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, St. Luke's Campus, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krustrup
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Randers
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Manniche
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dvorak
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bangsbo
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002648:Child; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D057194:Intention to Treat Analysis; D008297:Male; D012916:Soccer / Q000502:physiology*; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000502:physiology*; D016276:Ventricular Function / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Echocardiography; cardiac dimensions; diastolic function; heart rate; soccer; systolic function