Nutritional status and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in amateur soccer players

The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional status and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in amateur soccer players. Thirty-two men (39.0 ± 6.4 years) regularly playing soccer were studied. Nutritional status was evaluated according to body mass index (BMI) and the World Health Organization classification. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the criterion of the International Diabetes Federation which, in addition to central obesity (waist circumference > 90 cm), considers two or more of the following conditions in males: triglyceridemia ≥ 150 mg/dl; HDL < 40 mg/dl; systolic pressure ≥ 130 mmHg or diastolic pressure ≥ 85 mm/Hg, and fasting glycemia ≥ 100 mg/dl. Statistical analysis processed descriptive data of percentage, mean, minimum, maximum, and standard deviation. Correlations between pairs of variables were determined by Pearson’s r coefficient. The results showed that 43.8% of the soccer players were eutrophic, 43.8% presented overweight and 12.5% were obese. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 37.5% and the most prevalent components were abdominal obesity in 59.4%, hypertension in 40.6%, hypertriglyceridemia in 34.4%, HDL-c in 28.1%, and fasting glycemia in 15.6%. BMI presented a more robust correlation with waist circumference (r = 0.918). In conclusion, the nutritional status of the soccer players studied was characterized by the presence of overweight and obesity. Although the frequency of metabolic syndrome was lower than in other epidemiological studies, these sportsmen should engage in other health-promoting behaviors such as good eating habits and control of stress in addition to physical activity