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Objective: This study aimed to verify the association between childhood anthropometric indicators and areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in adulthood. Methods: Repeated measures of 137 subjects (68 females) were obtained in childhood (9.2±1.5 years of age) and adulthood (22.3±1.7 years of age). aBMD (g/cm²) was assessed for whole body, lumbar spine, upper and lower limbs, and femoral neck in adulthood using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Anthropometric measurements of body weight (BW), height, triceps and subscapular skinfolds were obtained in childhood. The anthropometric indicators used were BW, body mass index (BMI), and sum of skinfolds (∑SF). Simple linear regression was used to assess the association between childhood anthropometric indicators and aBMD in adulthood, controlled by chronological age and stratified by sex, with 5% statistical significance. Results: In females, multiple associations were observed between anthropometric indicators and aBMD, with higher coefficients for BMI (β=0.020; R²=0.20; p<0.01 for right femoral neck to β=0.008; R²=0.16; p<0.01 for upper limbs), followed by BW (β=0.003; R² =0.21; p<0.01 for upper limbs to β=0.008; R² =0.20; p<0.01 for right femoral neck) and ∑SF (β=0.001; R²=0.06; p<0.01 for upper limbs to β=0.005; R²=0.12; p<0.01 for right femoral neck). In males, associations were observed only for the lumbar spine region (β=0.016; R² =0.09 for BMI to β=0.004; R² =0.06; p<0.01 for ∑SF). Conclusions: Anthropometric indicators of childhood proved to be sensitive predictors of aBMD in adulthood, especially in females. BMI indicated a greater association with aBMD in both sexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study verified the effects of body size and game position on interactions performed by young soccer players in small-sided games (SSG). The sample consisted of 81 Brazilian soccer players (14.4 ± 1.1 years of age). Height, body mass, and trunk-cephalic height were measured. SSG was applied in the GK+ 3v3+ GK format, and Social Network Analyses were carried out through filming the games to obtain the following prominence indicators: degree centrality, closeness centrality, degree prestige, and proximity prestige, in addition to network intensity and number of goals scored. Factorial ANCOVA (bone age as covariate) was used to test the effects of game position, body size, and respective interaction on centrality measurements (p < 0.05). Similarity between game positions in body size indicators (p > 0.05) was observed. The game position affected degree centrality (p = 0.01, η2 = 0.16), closeness centrality (p = 0.01, η2 = 0.11), and network intensity (p = 0.02, η2 = 0.09), in which midfielders presented the highest network prominence values when compared to defenders and forwards. In conclusion, midfielders are players with high interaction patterns in the main offensive plays, which behavior is independent of body size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]