Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 191 ( 2015 ) 495 499 WCES 2014 Comparison of Anthropometric Characteristics Between Athletes and Non-athletes Liliana-Elisabeta Radu a *, Ileana-Monica Popovici a, Alexandru-Rareş Puni a a Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, Toma Cozma, 3, Iaşi, 700554, Romania Abstract The aim of our present study was to investigate the anthropometrical status of athletes and non-athletes. The anthropometric data included 3 types of measurements: basic, girths and breadths. The research was carried out on 20 handball players, 16 volleyball players and 21 healthy non-athlete subjects. The data obtained after applying the One-Way ANOVA indicates the existence of differences between the research groups (p<0.05), depending on weight, BMI, girths (arm span, chest, waist, hip), and breadths (biacromial, biliocristal, transverse chest), while no differences were recorded for height and anterior-posterior chest depth. Our research demonstrated the existence of differences between the non-athletes and athletes, as a result of the targeted selection of the athletes for each post or team. 2015 2014 The Authors. Published by by Elsevier Elsevier Ltd. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCES 2014. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCES 2014 Keywords: Stature; body mass index; arm span; girths; breadths. 1. Introduction Anthropometric measurements have the major advantage of studying the physique of different populations, athletes and non-athletes; furthermore, large amounts of data can be collected quickly, with a non-invasive method and inexpensive equipments (Kerr, Ackland, & Schneider, 1995). Morphological characteristics are important to succeed in a sport. (Malina, Bouchard, & Bar-Or, 2004; Malina, Meleski, & Shoup, 1982) Handball is a strength type of sport, where anthropometrics and fitness characteristics are undoubtedly factors for performances. At the same time, for volleyball, adolescents are selected based on their skills, performance level, physique and muscular strength (Benetti, Schneider, & Mezer, 2005). Handball game requires the pronounced longitudinal dimensions such * Liliana-Elisabeta Radu. Tel.: +4-074-201-8239 E-mail address: liliradu2004@yahoo.com 1877-0428 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCES 2014 doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.368
496 Liliana-Elisabeta Radu et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 191 ( 2015 ) 495 499 as stature, arm span, hand spread and length (Sibila, 1997; Srhoj, Marincovic, & Rogulj, 2002; Skoufas et al., 2003). In volleyball game, several elements can influence competitive success, such as height, arm span, leg length and sitting height (Gualdi-Russo, & Yaccagni, 2001). Studies on the anthropometric characteristic of the human body indicate that athletes who play in a specific sport differ in somatic characteristics from the general population (Gaurav, Singh, & Singh, 2010). Nowadays, athletes in all branches want to be faster and stronger, more efficient and, at the same time, they want to have higher quality anthropometric and physiological capacities (Ocal, Baydil, & Melekoglu, 2010). The aim of our study was to investigate the anthropometrical characteristics of handball and volleyball players and to study the differences between them and the population not involved in sports activities. 2. Methods 2.1. Subjects The research was carried out on 57 females divided into three groups: 20 handball players, 16 volleyball players and 21 healthy non-athlete subjects, aged from 16 to 17 (16.42±0.53). We mention that, for our research, we have obtained the written consent of parents, in accordance with the Ethics Commission within the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, and in conformity with the Declaration of Helsinki and the Treaty of Amsterdam. 2.2. Procedures The anthropometric data included 3 types of measurements: basic (stature, body mass, arm span and body mass index), girths (chest, waist, hip) and breadths (biacromial, biliocristal, transverse chest and anterior-posterior chest depth), according to the standard methods proposed by the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK, 2001). Based on these measurements, we have determined a profile for both sports handball and volleyball in contrast with the non-athlete students population of the same age. 2.3. Statistical analysis The mean, standard deviation and minimum and maximum values are presented, too. The variable means were compared by using One way Anova for analysis of variance. Variables were examined for homogeneity with the Levene test and Tukey s HSD post hoc test was applied for multiple comparisons to determine which differences of means were statistically significant. The statistical analysis was performed by using the SPSS 17.0 for Windows, by adopting a significant level of 5%. 3. Results and discussions Comparisons between groups (Table 1) show that the female handball players are taller, heavier and that they have a bigger BMI. Also, they record higher values for arm span, chest, waist, and hip. The handball players have greater breadths than the groups represented by volleyball players and non-athletes. Levene s test applied for all subjects indicates that the variances are equal (p>0.05); hence, the condition for homogeneity was confirmed. The One Way Anova analysis shows that there statistically significant differences between the means of body mass, BMI, arm span, chest, waist, hip, biacromial, biliocristal and transverse chest. No interaction between groups (p<0.05) was found for stature and anterior-posterior chest. The data obtained, after applying Tukey s HSD (Multiple Comparisons) for basic measurements (Table 2), indicates the existence of insignificant differences on stature between all groups. For body mass, the biggest difference was obtained between non-athletes and handball players, that is 6.891 kg (p<0.05) and the smallest between non-athletes and volleyball players, that is 0.354 kg. Table 1. Differences and homogeneity of anthropometric characteristics between groups Handball players Volleyball players Non-athletes Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Levene Anova Age (years) 16.30 0.47 16.13 0.50 16.76 0.43 - - Stature (m) 1.68 0.50 1.67 0.79 1.64 0.04 0.185 0.099
Liliana-Elisabeta Radu et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 191 ( 2015 ) 495 499 497 Body mass (kg) 63.22 10.34 56.68 8.94 56.33 7.75 0.497 0.034 * BMI (%) 22.23 2.59 20.11 2.67 20.80 2.48 0.950 0.047 * Arm span 172.45 5.58 170.88 7.79 161.05 6.19 0.858 0.000 ** Chest 88.75 4.08 85.37 6.23 82.00 4.12 0.154 0.000 ** Waist 77.45 8.12 72.34 5.79 68.14 4.98 0.407 0.000 ** Hip 99.22 6.33 94.65 6.33 93.65 4.83 0.581 0.010 * Biacromial 37.85 2.92 37.37 2.44 35.09 1.94 0.077 0.002 ** Biliocristal 33.80 2.70 32.43 1.96 30.52 2.18 0.580 0.000 ** Transverse chest 26.65 2.13 24.93 1.84 24.14 1.42 0.293 0.000 ** Anterior-posterior chest 18.90 2.07 18.68 2.54 19.08 2.61 0.913 0.904 * p<0.05; ** p<0.01. Literature reported the stronger players with higher body mass in handball (Gorostiaga et al., 2005), taller players in volleyball (Nande, Mudafale, & Vali, 2009), and, in contrast, no significant difference of body weight between handball and volleyball players (Rathore, Narwara, & Mukherjee, 2012). Gorostiaga et al. (2005) concluded that a high body mass and specifically high fat-free is an advantage in handball. It is determined that the difference of mean for BMI 2.116% is significant between volleyball and handball players (p<0.05) and insignificant for the other groups. The means of BMI range between 20.80 and 22.23%. Riddoch, Savage, & Murphy (1991) reported that at 16 years old, a percentage of 21.5% is a better characteristic of body composition index. Statistically significant differences have also been found on arm span (p<0.05) between subjects who play handball and volleyball and subjects who are not involved in any sports activity. As a requirement of those sports, and in according with Drăgan (1989) the arm span is higher than the stature by 5-6 cm for handball girls and 4-6 cm for volleyball girls between 13-15 years, in contrast with non-athletes, where in our study the arm span is smaller than stature by 3 cm. Table 2. Multiple comparisons for basic measurements Stature (m) Body mass (kg) BMI % Arm span Mean dif. Sign. Mean dif. Sign. Mean dif. Sign. Mean dif. Sign. Non-athletes-Volleyball players 0.336 0.226 0.354 0.992 0.686 0.703 9.827 * 0.000 Volleyball players-handball players 0.005 0.967 6.537 0.089 2.116 * 0.046 1.575 0.750 Non-athletes-Handball players 0.386 0.113 6.891 * 0.047 1.430 0.187 11.402 * 0.000 The statistical comparison of the mean values of girths measurements with Tukey s HSD test according to the groups membership (Table 3) showed significant differences in chest, waist and hip. Thus, all three variables differed only between handball players and non-athlete females. The study of Mohamed (2012) on junior level shows a value of 114.84±15.07cm for volleyball chest circumference and a value of 114.84±15.07 cm for handball players. At the same groups, a value of 78.37±8.21cm was found for volleyball players and 80.94±6.21cm for handball players in waist circumference, respectively. We calculated the differences of mean for both measurements and obtained 8.51cm for chest, greater differences compared to our data (3.375cm) and 2.57 cm for waist, smaller than our report (5.106cm). On expert volleyball players, Polluveer, Stamm, & Stamm (2012) found values of chest between 86.7 and 91.5cm, of waist between 74.3 and 78.7 cm, and of 99.4-104.3cm for hip circumference. All anthropometric dimensions were in accordance with positions and, at the same time, larger than what we obtained in our study. At junior female handball players and the opposite group (medical college students), the literature reported the following measurements for waist and hip: 73.1±5.19cm vs. 74.3±5.54cm and 102.6±5.74cm vs. 101.1±5.88cm (Asia &Warkar, 2013). The mean differences between those groups indicate a lower value than what we found between handball female players and non-athlete females.
498 Liliana-Elisabeta Radu et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 191 ( 2015 ) 495 499 Table 3. Multiple comparisons of girths Chest Waist Hip Mean dif. Sign. Mean dif. Sign. Mean dif. Sign. Non-athletes-Volleyball players 3.375 0.095 4.200 0.132 1.006 0.865 Volleyball players-handball players 3.375 0.099 5.106 0.057 4.568 0.060 Non-athletes-Handball players 6.750 * 0.000 9.307 * 0.000 5.575 * 0.011 Regarding the biacromial variable, the mean difference between volleyball players and non-athlete females was significant, as between handball players and non-athletes (Table 4). Non-significant values were obtained between sports team groups. Concerning the biliocristal measurement, the same statistical differences were obtained. The study of Mohamed (2010) that investigated anthropometric measurements at junior level between volleyball and handball sports, showed a mean biacromial value of 39.80±2.10 cm for volleyball and 40.69±1.48 cm for handball players. In addition, the biliocristal mean for volleyball players was 29.35±2.57 cm and for handball players 30.45±2.03 cm. The differences between groups that we calculated were no more than 1.10 cm, less than our present study. Table 4. Multiple comparisons of breadths Biacromial Biliocristal Transverse chest Anterior-posterior chest depth. Mean dif. Sign. Mean dif. Sign. Mean dif. Sign. Mean dif. Sign. Non-athletes-Volleyball players 2.278 * 0.020 1.913 * 0.043 0.794 0.391 0.360 0.895 Volleyball players-handball players 0.475 0.834 1.362 0.198 1.712 * 0.019 0.212 0.811 Non-athletes-Handball players 2.754 * 0.020 3.276 * 0.000 2.507 * 0.000 0.147 0.979 In this study, transverse chest showed statistical differences between volleyball players and handball players, between handball players and non-athletes, respectively. The measurement of anterior-posterior chest indicates no statistical differences between any groups. The literature reports values of transverse chest between 17.6-18.5 cm and values of anterior-posterior chest between 26.3-26.5 cm according with the court position (Carvajal et al., 2012). 4. Conclusions Compared to females who are not involved in sports activities, female players aged 16-17 are taller, with a greater body mass and arm span. At the same time, handball players and volleyball players obtained higher measurements of chest, waist and hip. It was found that in the category of breadths except for anterior-posterior chest all measurements were higher compared to the non-athlete groups. Measurements of anthropometric variables can create a profile of athletes within specific sports, because different sports have different anthropometric characteristics, and could help coaches to select players for the professional level according with the playing position. Acknowledgements We would like to express our gratitude to coaches and physical education teachers for their help and to athletes and students for their co-operation.
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