Georgia International Soccer Academy

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following steps:

• Strive for prevention and early recognition and treatment of overuse injuries. Treatment recommendations for overuse injuries that include only "rest" or cessation of the sport are unlikely to be followed by the committed child athlete and are unlikely to adequately address the risk of further injury.
• Regularly monitor the child athlete. Focus on serial measurements of body composition, weight, and stature; cardiovascular findings; sexual maturation; and evidence of emotional stress. Be alert for signs and symptoms of overtraining, including decline in performance, weight loss, anorexia, and sleep disturbances.
• Perform ongoing assessments of nutritional intake, with particular attention to total calories, a balanced diet, and intake of iron and calcium. Serial measurements of body weight are particularly important in ensuring the adequacy of caloric intake and early identification of pathologic eating behaviors.
• Educate the athlete, family, and coach about the risks of heat-related injury and strategies for prevention.
  

A recent article published in the American Journal of Preventive medicine found that after school programs can modestly increase the amount of physical activity among girls in middle school. According to new results from the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG), a multiple site, community based study supported by theNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, improved level of activity could prevent excess weight gain of about 2 pounds per year (or 0.82 kg per year), which, if sustained, could prevent a girl from becoming overweight as a teenager or adult.

Soccer for Health

The researchers studied the physical effects of soccer training for untrained subjects aged 9 to 77 years. The conclusion was clear. Soccer provides broad-spectred health and fitness effects that are at least as pronounced as for running, and in some cases even better.

Study leader Peter Krustrup concludes "Soccer is a very popular team sport that contains positive motivational and social factors that may facilitate compliance and contribute to the maintenance of a physically active lifestyle. The studies presented have demonstrated that soccer training for two-three hours per week causes significant cardiovascular, metabolic and musculoskeletal adaptations, independent on gender, age or lack of experience with soccer."

Professor Jens Bangsbo continues: "The effects can be maintained for a long period even with a reduced frequency of training to one to two times one hour a week. Recreational soccer, therefore, appears to be an effective type of training leading to performance improvements and significant beneficial effects to health, including a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, falls and fractures. In a number of aspects, soccer training appears to be superior to running training. Soccer training can also be used to treat hypertension and it was clearly superior to a standard treatment strategy of physician-guided traditional recommendations."

The two researchers foresee a great perspective in using soccer as a health promoting activity: "The studies have convincingly shown that soccer training is effective to enhance fitness and the health profile for the general population. Future studies are needed to understand what is causing the beneficial effects of football, how well football can be used to improve heart health in early childhood and how other patient groups such as those with type II diabetes or cancer can benefit from playing soccer."

Football for Health" containing 14 scientific articles from the soccer project on April 6, 2010