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Effects of Recreational Soccer on Health Outcomes: A Narrative Review

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Abstract

Soccer is a very popular team sport that involves a variety of physical actions, such as sprints, accelerations, sudden decelerations, and jumps, among others. Research has placed recreational soccer in a good position as a strategy to increase physical activity levels and promote health across the lifespan. In this regard, recreational (non-competitive) soccer promotes social interaction and has the potential to increase long-term adherence to physical activity, even in those without prior experience in this sport. In this narrative review, we address the effects of recreational soccer on various health outcomes across the lifespan (i.e., from childhood to the elderly years) in both sexes. In addition, the beneficial effects of recreational soccer for people with prevalent pathologies, such as hypertension, type II diabetes mellitus, and cancer, are discussed.

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Fig. 1

Adapted from Krustrup et al. [23]

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Funding

F.B.O. Research activity is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness—MINECO/FEDER (DEP2016-79512-R); the University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigación 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence, Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES); the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 667302; the SAMID III network, RETICS, funded by the PN I + D + I 2017–2021 (Spain), L.G.M. is funded by Programa de Captación de Talento—UGR Fellows, from the University of Granada, Spain. J.M.G. is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU14/06837).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Israel Castillo-Bellot & Luis Fradua

  2. PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity (PROFITH) Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Jose Mora-Gonzalez, Francisco B. Ortega & Luis Gracia-Marco

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  1. Israel Castillo-Bellot
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  2. Jose Mora-Gonzalez
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  3. Luis Fradua
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  4. Francisco B. Ortega
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  5. Luis Gracia-Marco
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All authors have substantially contributed in writing and critically reviewing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Luis Gracia-Marco.

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Castillo-Bellot, I., Mora-Gonzalez, J., Fradua, L. et al. Effects of Recreational Soccer on Health Outcomes: A Narrative Review. J. of SCI. IN SPORT AND EXERCISE 1, 142–150 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-019-0012-9

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