Repositorio Académico

The purpose of this study was to develop equations to predict body fat percentage in young Chilean soccer players. Ninetyfour footballers 13.0 to 17.9 yrs of age were studied. The anthropometric variables that were recorded included weight, height, sitting height, and five skinfolds (bicipital, tricipital, subscapular, iliac crest, and abdominal). The reference method used was the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Biological maturity was estimated by age peak height velocity (APHV). Three body fat percentage equations were generated for young soccer players: (a) 7.86 + (0.51*TR) + (0.165*SB) + (0.56*I) - (1.33*APHV); (b) 8.834 + (0.47*TR) + (0.017*SB) + (0.29*I) + (0.27*AB)(1.21*APHV); and (c) 8.677 - (0.008*BI) + (0.502*TR) + (0.051*SB) + (0.24*I) + (0.28*AB) - (1.29*APHV). All three equations displayed similar results when compared with the reference method (P > 0.001). The correlations varied between (R = 0.85 - 0.86). The results indicate that skinfolds along with APHV can help estimate accurately the percentage of body fat in young Chilean soccer players. The results suggest that these equations may be used to predict the percentage of body fat in other young soccer players with similar characteristics.