The anthropometric profile and body composition of youth soccer goalkeepers after the COVID‑19 pandemic, according to the maturity offset

Purpose To investigate the anthropometric profile of youth soccer goalkeepers in relation to the maturity offset after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Forty-two young male goalkeepers took part in the study. The anthropometric profile and body composition were assessed through the anthropometric method and the peak height velocity (PHV) was estimated. Participants were classified as pre-PHV (n= 16, age =11.31 ± 0.94), circa-PHV (n= 7, age = 13.27 ± 1.02) and post-PHV (n=19, age= 16.86 ± 2.00). Results The adiposity was significantly higher in pre-PHV goalkeepers than circa- and post-PHV and in circa-PHV than in post-PHV, according to BMI (p=0.017), the percentage of fat mass (p<0.001) and the fat mass index (p=0.023). Compared with similar sample in literature assessed before the COVID-19 pandemic, the pre-PHV subgroup showed a higher prevalence of children at abdominal obesity risk (62.5 vs. 33.3%). Conclusion The current study shows a relationship between the maturity offset and goalkeepers’ anthropometric profile. The COVID-19 pandemic seemed to affect the abdominal obesity risk of pre-PHV children.