Longitudinal body composition changes of youth female football players
Keywords:
body fat, skeletal muscle, demale football, youth football, national teamAbstract
The development of women's football requires specific knowledge about football players, which undoubtedly includes knowledge about body composition. The aim of the paper was to describe the development of the body composition of youth female national football players. A total of 136 national female football players under 15 category participated in this study. The body compositions of female football players was monitored by single-frequency BIA device (Omron BF-511, Kyoto, Japan) and was conducted during national football camps throughout 6 years (2017-2022). We did find significant differences in comparison between individual years of birth of female football players in body fat (p=0,001) and skeletal muscle (p=0,001). Changes observed between birth years 2008 and 2003, 2004 and 2005 were 3-6% decrease in body fat and 2-4% increase in muscle mass (p < 0.05). We can state a trend of development in body composition in terms of a decrease in body fat and an increase in muscle mass of WU15 female football players in the Slovak national team during 6 years. This finding indicates an improving trend in the body composition of female football players in Slovakia.