The purpose of this study was: to validate metabolic equivalents (METs) · hr/week by comparing with maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2 max) as a measure of physical activities, to examine the relationships between METs · hr/week,VO 2 max, and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors according to the goals of METs · hr/week andVO 2 max in ml·kg −1 ·min −1 for health promotion set in the Ex- Key words --metabolic equivalent·hour/week, maximal oxygen uptake, intensity, quantity of physical activity

Many of the published data on the lipid profile of athletes is based on studies of endurance athletes. The data on soccer players are rare. The purpose of this study was to examine serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol subfractions and lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase activity in collegiate soccer players. 31 well-trained male collegiate soccer players were divided into 2 groups: 16 defenders and 15 offenders. They were compared with 16 sedentary controls. Dietary information was obtained with a food frequency questionnaire. The subjects were all non-smokers and were not taking any drug known to affect the lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. The offenders had significantly higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein2 cholesterol, and apolipoprotein A-I than the defenders and controls, whereas the defenders had the significantly higher high-density lipoprotein2 cholesterol than the controls. Both groups of athletes had significantly higher lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase activity than the controls. The results indicate that favorable lipid and lipoprotein profile could be obtained by vigorous soccer training.

MATERIALS AND METHODS 1. Subjects and self-administered questionnaire Collegiate men were recruited from 2 universities and consented to the study procedure after explanation of the purpose of the study. They were not on any medication at the time of their participation in the study. The body weight and height were measured with the subjects in underwear to the nearest 0.1 kg and 0.1 cm, respectively. The body mass index (BMI) is expressed as weight/height 2 (kg/m 2). Smokers were eligible if they had smoked for at least 3 months. Twenty-six current smokers volunteered, who were individually matched for age (within ±0.5 years) and BMI (within ±0.5 kg/m 2) with 26 non-smokers who had never smoked. The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the university. Informed consent was obtained from each participant.

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