Discriminating factors of the kinanthropometric profile of young athletes from different sports

• Published in: Revista brasileira de prescrição e fisiologia do exercício 2023-04, Vol.17 (108), p.128-137
• Main Authors: Tatianny de Macêdo Cesário, Cláudio Hélio Lobato Lobato, Alexandre Bulhões-Correia, Paulo Almeida-Neto, Breno Guilherme de Araújo Tinôco Cabral
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Subjects: anthropometry; athletes; sport; talent selection
• ISSN: 1981-9900

Background: Body morphology, due to its simple applicability, is used to help coaches make decisions during the process of identifying and selecting talent in sports. Objective: to analyze the discriminative kinanthropometric patterns of young Brazilian athletes in different sports. Methods: We evaluated 83 young males (age: 13.1 ± 2.4), 60 of whom were athletes (16-soccer, 11-tennis, 20-swimming, and 13-rowing) and 23 non-athletes (Control group). We evaluated the kinanthropometric profile by dual-energy x-ray emission absorptiometry and by anthropometry. Subsequently, through algorithms programmed in “R” language, a discriminant model was created based on the circumference variables: biceps, hips, waist, and leg; the bone diameters of the humerus and femur, and the components of body composition: total lean mass, total fat mass, bone mineral density, bone mineral content, triceps skinfold, and body adiposity index. Results: Discriminant model was able to discriminate soccer athletes in 93.8% (F:32.098; p=0.000), tennis athletes in 81.8% (F:24.060; p=0.0004), rowing athletes in 80% (F:28.031; p=0.0001), swimming at 100% (F:41.899; p