Abstract

FONSECA, Paulo Henrique Santos da; MARINS, João Carlos Bouzas  and  SILVA, Alexandre Tavares da. Validation of anthropometric equations for the estimation of body density in professional soccer players. Rev Bras Med Esporte [online]. 2007, vol.13, n.3, pp. 153-156. ISSN 1517-8692.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1517-86922007000300005.

The objective of this study was to validate equations which estimate the body density in professional soccer players. Twenty-five soccer players were evaluated, aged 22.7 ± 4.4 years, body mass 73.9 ± 6.6 kg, and height 177.8 ± 5.5 cm, who played in the state championship of the Federação Gaúcha de Futebol in 2004. The validity of 11 anthropometric equations were analyzed by the process: Pearson correlation (r), dependent t test, constant error (EC), total error (ET) and estimated standard error (EPE), using hydrostatic weight as the "gold standard." In the current study of 11 equations, only the equations proposed by Jackson and Pollock (1978) are valid for estimating the body density of professional soccer players, since the other equations analyzed in this study present considerable errors in their estimation.

Keywords : Anthropometric; Validation; Equations.