The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of age and maturity on anthropometric and various fitness characteristics in young competitive female tennis players. Sixty-one players, aged 10.4–13.2 years (11.8 ± 0.8) were measured for standing and sitting heights, body mass, skinfolds, grip strength, and agility, and dichotomized into two age (U12 and U14) and maturity (earliest and latest) groups according to their chronological age and maturity status. The results revealed significant age effects for stature, sitting height, leg length, and hand grip in favor of the older players. Girls contrasting in maturation differed significantly for all anthropometric and physical performance variables except for body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BF%), and hexagon agility test. The earliest maturing group showed significantly higher values for anthropometric measures and better results in the hand grip test than the latest maturing group. After controlling for chronological age, differences were revealed between contrasting maturity groups in stature, sitting height, BF%, and the hand grip test. The findings highlight the age- and maturity-related trends in body size and muscular strength among young female tennis players in the pubertal period. Nevertheless, the differences in the body composition and agility of the contrasting age and maturity groups were negligible.
The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the associations between various anthropometric adiposity screening indices and body fat percentage estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). A total of 186 (95 male and 91 female) normal weight (body mass index [BMI] = 18.5-24.9 kg/m2) young adults (mean age= 20.96 ± 2.03 years) were measured on body fat percentage, body height, body mass, waist and hip circumferences. Abdominal volume index, body adiposity index, BMI, body roundness index, conicity index, reciprocal ponderal index, waist to height ratio, waist to height 0.5 ratio, and waist to hip ratio were calculated accordingly. Results revealed significant gender effects in all main anthropometric measurements. Except for waist to hip ratio, results indicated significant associations between anthropometric indices and BIA in both male and female participants. BIA results were found to be largely associated with BMI and abdominal volume index in both genders. BlandAltman analysis showed good agreements between these indices and BIA. Considerable associations and agreements highlight the potential importance and the use of several anthropometric proxies to estimate body adiposity among male and female non-overweight/obese young adults. Despite continuing discussion regarding its accuracy, BMI seems to be useful for monitoring body adiposity within this cohort.
The purposes of this study were to determine whether moderately physically active (MPA) and highly physically active (HPA) male (n = 96, age = 22.5 ± 1.7 years) and female (n = 85, age = 21.3 ± 1.6 years) young adults differed in their anthropometric obesity indices (AOIs), body fat percentage (BF%), and muscular strength, and also to examine the associations between physical activity level (PAL) and the abovementioned variables. Participants were measured for body height and weight, BF%, waist and hip circumferences, and maximal isometric grip strength. According to their PAL, estimated by the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, they were assigned to MPA and HPA subgroups. Regardless of gender, results indicated that participants in the MPA groups had significantly higher values of body weight, waist and hip circumference, BF%, and BMI than participants in the HPA groups. No significant differences were found between physical activity groups in terms of grip strength. The AOIs and BF% were found to be significantly and negatively correlated with the PAL in both genders. In conclusion, the findings of the study suggest that high habitual physical activity is associated with lower adiposity markers. However, the differences in the hand grip strength of the contrasting activity groups were negligible.
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