Effect of a 6-month volleyball activity program on body composition and physical fitness of overweight and obese children

Abstract

Unfortunately, obesity is becoming more common among children, and some children are affected very early in life. Therefore, there is an urgent need for actions at global, regional, and local levels, to improve diet and increase physical activity in general population. Aim. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a 6-month volleyball-training program on body composition and fitness parameters in overweight and obese children. Materials and methods. A total of 28 overweight and obese girls (8 – 11 years old) were divided into two groups, the intervention and control group. The intervention group (14 girls, 9.4 ± 1 years old) was available to attend 3 volleyball training sessions per week. The control group (14 girls, 9.1 ± 0.9 years old) was not available to attend 3 training sessions per week. For both study groups, we applied initial and final testing, which consisted of anthropometric measurements and assessment of body composition and fitness, physical activity, and eating habits. Results. At the end of the study, we observed an improvement in body composition in the intervention group, with a significant decrease in fat percent (5.3%, p < 0.001) and a significant increase in skeletal muscle percent (3.07%, p < 0.001). In contrast, in the control group, body mean fat percent increased (2.43%, p = 0.005), leading to a significant increase in body mass index (p = 0.005). In addition, significant differences were observed in the physical performance parameters in the intervention group for all physical tests applied (p < 0.001). In the control group, the results obtained for the initial and final testing were very similar; the only difference was observed in the plate tapping test; i.e., we recorded an improvement of 2.45 s (p < 0.001). Conclusions. Our study shows that by participating in 3 volleyball workouts per week, for 6 months, significant results can be obtained in preventing weight gain and improving body composition and fitness in overweight and obese children without substantial dietary interventions. While at the beginning of the study, the intervention group was classified as obese, according to BMI percentiles, at the end of the study, the subjects in this group were ranked below the middle percentile of the overweight category.