Effects of 12 weeks of recreational football (soccer) with caloric control on glycemia and cardiovascular health of adolescent boys with type 1 diabetes

Objective: To determine the effects of recreational football combined with caloric control on glycemia and cardiovascular health of adolescent boys with type 1 diabetes. Background: Though 12 weeks of physical activity alone improves the health of people with type 1 diabetes, there is little evidence that physical activity alone can improve glycemia in 12 weeks. Research Design and Methods: The participants were divided into four groups as follows: football with diet, football-only, diet-only, and the control groups. Each group consisted of 10 participants. The football with diet and the football-only groups had 1.5 h of football twice a week for 12 weeks. The following outcomes were measured before and after 12 weeks: Glycated hemoglobin, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and resting blood pressures. Changes were considered significant when p ≤ 0.050 and common language effect size ≤42% or common language effect size ≥58%. Results: Glycated hemoglobin decreased in the football with diet group (mean change (standard deviation) = −0.9 (1.0) %, p = 0.019, and common language effect size = 31.5%) and was different from the control group (p = 2.4 × 10⁻⁴ and common language effect size = 95.5%.). However, none of the intervention groups showed a clear change in blood lipids nor blood pressure. Conclusions: 12 weeks of combined football with diet intervention provides the greatest improvement in glycemia in adolescent boys with type 1 diabetes.