Journal d'ergonomie
Libre accès

Abstrait

Anthropometry and Body Composition in Eastern Indian Soccer and Hockey Players

Rishna Dalui, Anindita Singha Roy, Amit Bandyopadhyay*

Background: Anthropometry, body composition and somatotype are of major morphological importance to develop performance in soccer and hockey players. There is lack of comparative data of these parameters in these two groups of sportspersons in the eastern Indian context.

Methods: 120 healthy young male subjects (sedentary=40, soccer player=40, hockey player=40) of 19-23 years of age with similar socio-economic background were recruited in the present study from Kolkata, West Bengal, India to evaluate and compare the anthropometric parameters, body composition and somatotype in soccer and hockey players.

Results: Determination of anthropometric parameters, body composition and somatotype by standard methods and analysis of data by one-way Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) depicted that age, body height and body surface area had no significant inter-group variation. Body mass and body mass index were significantly higher in the sedentary group in comparison to the experimental groups (hockey and soccer). Values of skinfolds, waist-hip ratio, humerus and femur width were significantly lower while calf girth was significantly higher in the hockey and soccer players in comparison to the sedentary group. The sedentary group had significantly (p<0.05) higher endomorphic score than the hockey and soccer players.

Conclusion: Furthermore, the soccer players had significantly higher ectomorphic score than the hockey players and sedentary groups. The mean somatotype distribution of the groups illustrated that the sedentary group and hockey players were endomorphic mesomorph while soccer players were ectomorphic mesomorphs which is considered to be more potential characteristic to develop better performance and prevent the risks of injuries.