The Impact of the Weight Status on Cardiovascular Parameters Related to Physical Effort in Young Athletes

Abstract

Excess weight leads to an impaired cardiovascular response to physical exertion even at a young age. Sports training during youth promotes cardiovascular adaptations. The aim of the study is to verify the impact of weight status on cardiovascular parameters related to physical effort in young people who engage in competitive sports. A retrospective study was conducted on 8307 young athletes (5578 males and 2729 females) aged 6–18 years (mean age 13.9 ± 2.2 years). The data concerning graded exercise tests of young athletes in normal weight and overweight were compared. Approximately, 13.4% of the sample had excess weight. Young overweight athletes show a higher resting heart rate as well as systolic and diastolic pressure than young normal weight athletes. Excess weight condition leads to a reduction in the duration of the graded exercise test, reaching higher blood pressure values at the end of the test compared to those with normal weight. After four min from the end of the test, heart rate and systolic/diastolic blood pressure remained higher in the young overweight athletes. Excess weight affects cardiovascular parameters both at rest and in response to physical exertion during youth; however, competitive sport seems to be able to keep these parameters within the normal range even in young overweight athletes.

Florentine Normative Values for Physical Fitness in Adolescents Aged 14–15 Years

“…This study analyzed the performance of 1915 subjects aged 14–15 years to generate, for the first time, sex- and age-specific normative values for physical fitness for Florentine adolescents. These normative values are added to the existing standards for the Florentine youth population on other cardiovascular risk factors related to physical exertion [ 19 , 20 , 21 ], adiposity [ 22 ], body mass index [ 23 ], eating habits [ 24 ], and lifestyle [ 25 , 26 ]. Although these fitness percentiles are not directly linked to the health status of the youth population, they help to monitor the phases of health surveillance.…”

Normative values for heart rate response to exercise in young athletes at 10–18 years old

“…In addition, the various weight classes are reported in other studies carried out on the same sample (Mascherini, Galanti, Massetti, Calà, & Modesti, 2019a;Mascherini, Petri, et al, 2019b). In particular, a previous study (Mascherini et al, 2020) showed that excess weight leads to an early chronotropic increase compared to the normal weight condition. Therefore, this information could be used in the clinical setting to evaluate the increase in heart rate compared to the normative values provided in the percentiles of this study.…”

“…However, this parameter shows limited variability in subjects with non-cardiovascular diseases and has little diagnostic value (Ahmad, Kavey, Kveselis, Gaum, & Smith, 2001). Obese young athletes have been shown to have a greater chronotropic response to exercise while achieving the same HR max compared to age-matched, normal-weight young athletes (Mascherini et al, 2020). Therefore, evaluating the chronotropic response during an incremental exercise might provide additional diagnostic information rather than using only HR max in the young population, both healthy and with cardiovascular disease.…”