IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i6p2854-d514894.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Benefits of Regular Table Tennis Practice in Body Composition and Physical Fitness Compared to Physically Active Children Aged 10–11 Years

Author

Listed:
  • Francisco Pradas

    (Research Group Training, Physical Activity and Sports Performance (ENFYRED), University of Zaragoza, 22003 Huesca, Spain)

  • Ignacio Ara

    (Research Group Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD), Toledo Research Group, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 45071 Toledo, Spain)

  • Víctor Toro

    (Department of Physiology, Faculty of Sports Science Faculty, University of Extremadura, University Avenue, 10003 Cáceres, Spain)

  • Javier Courel-Ibáñez

    (Department of Physical Activity and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Murcia, 30720 Murcia, Spain)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the differences in body composition and physical fitness between children who played table tennis regularly during a two-year period compared to physically active children who were not engaged in a regular activity. Three hundred seventy-four children aged 10 to 11 years were divided into two groups: table tennis players ( n = 109 boys and 73 girls) and physically active group ( n = 88 boys and 104 girls). Anthropometric analysis included body mass index, skinfolds, perimeters and bone diameters. Somatotype and body composition were determined according to age-specific equations. Physical fitness assessment included hand grip dynamometry (strength), sit-and-reach test (range of movement) and maximal multistage 20 m shuttle run test (cardiovascular fitness). The result show that children who regularly played table tennis had greater bone development and superior physical fitness compared to those who were physically active but not engaged in a regular physical activity. This is the largest study to date presenting data about the potential of table tennis to benefit health in children. These results constitute an important first step in clarifying the effectiveness of table tennis as a health-promotion strategy to encourage children to undertake regular physical activity and limit sedentary behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Francisco Pradas & Ignacio Ara & Víctor Toro & Javier Courel-Ibáñez, 2021. "Benefits of Regular Table Tennis Practice in Body Composition and Physical Fitness Compared to Physically Active Children Aged 10–11 Years," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-11, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2854-:d:514894
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2854/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2854/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elżbieta Biernat & Sonia Buchholtz & Justyna Krzepota, 2018. "Eye on the Ball: Table Tennis as a Pro-Health Form of Leisure-Time Physical Activity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Beata Pluta & Szymon Galas & Magdalena Krzykała & Marcin Andrzejewski, 2020. "The Motor and Leisure Time Conditioning of Young Table Tennis Players’ Physical Fitness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Carlos Castellar & Francisco Pradas & Luis Carrasco & Ana De La Torre & José Antonio González-Jurado, 2019. "Analysis of reaction time and lateral displacements in national level table tennis players: are they predictive of sport performance?," International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 467-477, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francisco Pradas & Víctor Toro-Román & Ana de la Torre & Alejandro Moreno-Azze & Juan Francisco Gutiérrez-Betancur & Miguel Ángel Ortega-Zayas, 2022. "Analysis of Specific Physical Fitness in High-Level Table Tennis Players—Sex Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Jon Mikel Picabea & Jesús Cámara & Javier Yanci, 2021. "Physical Fitness Profiling of National Category Table Tennis Players: Implication for Health and Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-12, September.
    3. Amir Hossein Haghighi & Ali Zaferanieh & Seyed Alireza Hosseini-Kakhak & Ali Maleki & Fabio Esposito & Emiliano Cè & Carlos Castellar & Víctor Toro-Román & Francisco Pradas, 2021. "Effects of Power and Ballistic Training on Table Tennis Players’ Electromyography Changes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-16, July.
    4. Jon Mikel Picabea & Jesús Cámara & Javier Yanci, 2022. "Heart Rate Response, Temporal Structure and the Stroke Technique Distribution in Table Tennis National Category Matches," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Francisco Pradas & Víctor Toro-Román & Miguel Ángel Ortega-Zayas & Duber Mary Montoya-Suárez & Bernardino Javier Sánchez-Alcaraz & Diego Muñoz, 2022. "Physical Fitness and Upper Limb Asymmetry in Young Padel Players: Differences between Genders and Categories," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-12, May.
    6. Francisco Pradas & Ana de la Torre & Carlos Castellar & Víctor Toro-Román, 2021. "Physiological Profile, Metabolic Response and Temporal Structure in Elite Individual Table Tennis: Differences According to Gender," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-11, November.
    7. Bernardino J. Sánchez-Alcaraz & Javier Courel-Ibáñez, 2022. "The Role of Padel in Improving Physical Fitness and Health Promotion: Progress, Limitations, and Future Perspectives—A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-11, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francisco Pradas & Víctor Toro-Román & Ana de la Torre & Alejandro Moreno-Azze & Juan Francisco Gutiérrez-Betancur & Miguel Ángel Ortega-Zayas, 2022. "Analysis of Specific Physical Fitness in High-Level Table Tennis Players—Sex Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Francisco Pradas & Víctor Toro-Román & Miguel Ángel Ortega-Zayas & Duber Mary Montoya-Suárez & Bernardino Javier Sánchez-Alcaraz & Diego Muñoz, 2022. "Physical Fitness and Upper Limb Asymmetry in Young Padel Players: Differences between Genders and Categories," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-12, May.
    3. Jiahn-Shing Lee & Shih-Tsung Chang & Li-Chuan Shieh & Ai-Yin Lim & Wei-Sheng Peng & Wei-Min Chen & Yen-Hsiu Liu & Lai-Chu See, 2021. "Stereopsis and Response Times between Collegiate Table Tennis Athletes and Non-Athletes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-12, June.
    4. Bernardino J. Sánchez-Alcaraz & Javier Courel-Ibáñez, 2022. "The Role of Padel in Improving Physical Fitness and Health Promotion: Progress, Limitations, and Future Perspectives—A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-11, May.
    5. Jon Mikel Picabea & Jesús Cámara & Javier Yanci, 2021. "Physical Fitness Profiling of National Category Table Tennis Players: Implication for Health and Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-12, September.
    6. Beata Pluta & Szymon Galas & Magdalena Krzykała & Marcin Andrzejewski & Karolina Podciechowska, 2021. "Somatic Characteristics and Special Motor Fitness of Young Top-Level Polish Table Tennis Players," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-12, May.
    7. Ziemowit Bańkosz & Sławomir Winiarski & Ivan Malagoli Lanzoni, 2020. "Gender Differences in Kinematic Parameters of Topspin Forehand and Backhand in Table Tennis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-12, August.
    8. Javier Courel-Ibáñez & Javier Llorca-Miralles, 2021. "Physical Fitness in Young Padel Players: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-10, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2854-:d:514894. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.