According to a new study carried out in the Faroe Islands by football researchers and physiologists from the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark and the University of the Faroe Islands, football scores from all angles for untrained middle-aged and elderly women and men with prediabetes.
Magni Mohr, project leader and associate professor at the University of Southern Denmark, states to EurekAlert that ”individuals with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes have a higher prevalence of osteopenia and bone fractures, so it is essential to develop treatment protocols for them.”
Mr. Mohr adds: ”Our results show that football and dietary guidance are indeed an effective cocktail for improving bone health. The football group derived significant positive effects in the legs and clinically important femoral sites emphasising that football is effective osteogenic training for this participant group.”
The study was carried out in the Faroe Islands, with the participants recruited from a national cohort of prediabetics.
50 individuals – 25 of each gender – underwent a 16-week intervention comprising dietary guidance and twice-weekly football training sessions lasting 30-60 minutes. The duration of the training increased progressively from 30 minutes per session in the first 2 weeks to 60 minutes per session in the final 10 weeks.
The participants were 55 to 70-year-old untrained men and women who were prediabetic, had poor physical fitness and were predominantly overweight. Around three-quarters had weak bones (osteoporosis or osteopenia in the legs).