Body composition and somatotype profile of football-seven Brazilian players with Cerebral Palsy by functional classification. Contribution to Paralympic Sport

Football seven is played by people who have cerebral patsy: Participants are divided into four functional classes. The objective of this study was to verify somatotype and body composition characteristics of athletes participating in the 15th Brazilian Football-seven Championship. Anthropomettic variables of body mass, height, thickness of skinfolds, and hone circumferences and diameters were collected in 61 male footballers. Measures collected provided information on body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat (% BF), and somatotype. Data presentation was based on descriptive statistics, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to verify the difference between the different functional classes. Data analysis on anthropometric variables and body composition showed no differences between the functional classes regarding athletes'profile expressed by mean BMI values (22.78 Kg m2 2.24) and % BF (10.48% .1. 4.41). With respect to the somatotypological characteristics, results indicated that values of the mesomorphic component were predominant compared to the other components in all participants from our study, divided in four functional classes. In that sense, we may draw determinations regarding size. shape. and body structure patterns and profiles of male footballers of Paralympic football.