Characterization of small-sided soccer games intensity profile and effectiveness in improving cardiometabolic health in children and adolescents with metabolic dysfunction

Abstract

Physical activity and exercise are essential components for managing obesity and its related complications. However, significant challenges exist regarding the effectiveness of exercise interventions in real-world settings. Small-sided soccer games (SSSG) are a playful and low-cost approach yet, their effectiveness and implementation characteristics, are not well studied. The main objective of this dissertation is to assess how SSSG affect health related physical fitness and cardiometabolic health indicators such as body composition, blood pressure, and cardiometabolic risk biomarkers in children and adolescents with increased metabolic risk. Two systematic reviews and two experimental studies were conducted to characterize the intensity profile during SSSG and to evaluate its effectiveness in improving cardiometabolic health. Specifically, these studies aimed to: (i) conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the type and magnitude of the benefits of SSSG exercise interventions on health-related physical fitness and cardiometabolic risk biomarkers in untrained children and adolescents (Study 1); (ii) conduct a systematic review to characterize training load and perceived enjoyment during SSSG in untrained children and adolescents (Study 2); (iii) conduct an experimental study to compare heart rate response, rate of perceived exertion, and enjoyment during continuous and fractioned SSSG (Study 3); and (iv) conduct a randomized control trial to compare the effects of high-intensity SSSG versus traditional soccer on different cardiometabolic risk markers in adolescent boys with increased metabolic risk (Study 4). Results of our studies showed that: (i) SSSG are characterized by moderate-to vigorous intensity internal loads and high enjoyment perception. A SSSG configuration with smaller number of players, larger pitch size, frequent verbal encouragement, man-marking, and rules promoting continuous play consistently generates high intensities (Study 2 and 3); (ii) long-term SSSG interventions generate beneficial effects on cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, lipid metabolism, and blood pressure (Study 2 and 4); (iii) SSSG in adolescents with increased metabolic risk, elicited superior improvements in fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and the cardiometabolic risk index compared to traditional soccer exercises (Study 4). Overall, SSSG was shown to elicit high enjoyment with moderate to vigorous intensities and to potentially improve health related physical fitness and cardiometabolic health, effectively contributing to obesity management and its related health complications.