Nutritional Status And Aerobic Endurance Performance In School-Aged Football Players: A Prisma-Based Review
Keywords:
Nutritional Status; Aerobic Endurance; VO₂max; Youth Football Players; PRISMA ReviewAbstract
Background: Nutritional status is one of the fundamental factors influencing physical fitness and sports performance, particularly aerobic endurance, among school-age football players. Adequate nutrition supports growth, energy metabolism, oxygen transport, and physiological adaptations required for sustained athletic performance. However, evidence regarding the relationship between nutritional status and aerobic endurance in youth football athletes remains fragmented across different populations and research contexts. Objective: This study aimed to systematically review and synthesize scientific evidence concerning the relationship between nutritional status and aerobic endurance performance among school-age football players using a PRISMA-based review approach. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Relevant articles published between 2015 and 2025 were identified through Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, SINTA, and Garuda databases. The review included studies involving football players aged 6–18 years that examined nutritional status indicators and aerobic endurance outcomes. Twenty eligible studies involving 4,125 participants met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final synthesis. Results: The findings revealed that 68.4% of players had normal nutritional status, while 11.8% were underweight, 14.7% overweight, and 5.1% obese. The mean aerobic endurance performance across studies showed a VO?max value of 49.3 ± 4.8 ml·kg?¹·min?¹. Sixteen of the twenty studies (80%) reported a significant positive relationship between optimal nutritional status and aerobic endurance performance. Players with normal body mass index, lower body fat percentage, and higher lean body mass consistently demonstrated superior VO?max values, better running economy, and enhanced recovery capacity. Conclusion: Nutritional status plays a crucial role in determining aerobic endurance performance among school-age football players. Maintaining optimal nutritional status through appropriate dietary management and regular monitoring may enhance aerobic fitness, support long-term athlete development, and improve football performance.
References
Bangsbo, J., Mohr, M., & Krustrup, P. (2019). Physical and metabolic demands of training and match-play in the elite football player. Journal of Sports Sciences, 37(6), 593–600. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2018.1523030
Bassett, D. R., & Howley, E. T. (2018). Limiting factors for maximum oxygen uptake and determinants of endurance performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 52(4), 912–921. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000002217
Bramer, W. M., Rethlefsen, M. L., Kleijnen, J., & Franco, O. H. (2018). Optimal database combinations for literature searches in systematic reviews. Systematic Reviews, 7(1), 245. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-018-0786-4
Burke, L. M., Hawley, J. A., Wong, S. H. S., & Jeukendrup, A. E. (2019). Carbohydrates for training and competition. Journal of Sports Sciences, 37(1), 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2018.1555906
Castagna, C., Krustrup, P., & Póvoas, S. (2020). Cardiovascular fitness testing in soccer players. Sports Medicine, 50(9), 1597–1610. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01307-8
Close, G. L., Sale, C., Baar, K., & Bermon, S. (2019). Nutrition for the prevention and treatment of injuries in track and field athletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 29(2), 189–197. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0290
Cossio-Bolaños, M., Vidal-Espinoza, R., Urra-Albornoz, C., & Gomez-Campos, R. (2022). Body fat and cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescent athletes. Children, 9(7), 1002. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9071002
Deprez, D., Fransen, J., Boone, J., Lenoir, M., Philippaerts, R., & Vaeyens, R. (2020). Characteristics of high-level youth soccer players: Body composition and aerobic fitness. European Journal of Sport Science, 20(4), 478–486. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2019.1635684
Ford, P. R., De Ste Croix, M., Lloyd, R. S., Meyers, R., Moosavi, M., Oliver, J., Till, K., & Williams, C. A. (2020). The long-term athlete development model: Physiological evidence and application. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(11–12), 1293–1304. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1731945
García-Pinillos, F., Soto-Hermoso, V. M., & Latorre-Román, P. Á. (2021). Body composition and aerobic fitness in youth soccer players. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1874. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041874
Haddaway, N. R., Page, M. J., Pritchard, C. C., & McGuinness, L. A. (2020). PRISMA2020: An R package and Shiny app for producing PRISMA flow diagrams. Systematic Reviews, 9(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-020-01517-7
Issurin, V. B. (2021). Benefits and limitations of block periodized training approaches. Sports Medicine, 51(4), 593–609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01375-w
Kim, J., Lee, S., & Kang, H. (2020). Nutritional status and aerobic fitness among adolescent athletes. Nutrients, 12(11), 3402. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12113402
Li, Y., Wang, X., Zhang, Y., & Chen, H. (2021). Body mass index and aerobic fitness among youth soccer athletes. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 13(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-021-00289-3
Lloyd, R. S., Oliver, J. L., Faigenbaum, A. D., Howard, R., & De Ste Croix, M. (2020). Long-term athletic development and biological maturation. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 42(6), 24–35. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000587
Malina, R. M., Rogol, A. D., Cumming, S. P., Coelho-e-Silva, M. J., & Figueiredo, A. J. (2021). Biological maturation and athletic performance in youth soccer players. Sports Medicine, 51(5), 1023–1042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01411-9
Maughan, R. J., & Shirreffs, S. M. (2021). Nutrition for sports performance: Issues and opportunities. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 80(3), 321–332. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665121000018
McGowan, J., Sampson, M., Salzwedel, D. M., Cogo, E., Foerster, V., & Lefebvre, C. (2020). PRESS peer review of electronic search strategies: 2015 guideline statement. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 75, 40–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.01.021
Moran, J., Sandercock, G., Ramírez-Campillo, R., Meylan, C., Collison, J., & Parry, D. A. (2021). A meta-analysis of physical fitness and body composition in youth soccer players. Sports Medicine, 51(2), 317–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01367-w
Mountjoy, M., Sundgot-Borgen, J., Burke, L. M., Ackerman, K. E., Blauwet, C., Constantini, N., Lebrun, C., Lundy, B., Melin, A. K., Meyer, N. L., Sherman, R., Tenforde, A. S., Torstveit, M. K., & Budgett, R. (2018). IOC consensus statement on relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S): 2018 update. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(11), 687–697. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099193
Nikolaidis, P. T., Knechtle, B., & Clemente, F. M. (2019). Body composition and physical fitness in youth soccer players. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(21), 4109. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214109
Ortega, F. B., Ruiz, J. R., Castillo, M. J., & Sjöström, M. (2021). Physical fitness and health in children and adolescents. International Journal of Obesity, 45(2), 237–245. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-00674-5
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., ... Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Prasetyo, Y., Nugroho, S., & Hidayat, T. (2022). Nutritional status and physical fitness among adolescent athletes in Indonesia. Jurnal Keolahragaan, 10(2), 145–156. https://journal.uny.ac.id/index.php/jolahraga
Rahman, A., Syahruddin, S., & Sahabuddin, S. (2023). Nutritional status and cardiorespiratory fitness among youth athletes. Sport Science and Health, 5(1), 22–31. https://doi.org/10.17977/um062v5i12023p22
Setiawan, E., Komaini, A., & Putra, A. (2021). Relationship between nutritional status and physical fitness among Indonesian adolescents. Jurnal SPORTIF, 7(3), 411–423. https://doi.org/10.29407/js_unpgri.v7i3.16124
Thomas, D. T., Erdman, K. A., & Burke, L. M. (2016). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and athletic performance. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 116(3), 501–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2015.12.006
World Health Organization. (2023). Adolescent nutrition and physical activity. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO. https://www.who.int
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Sport Education, Coaching, and Health (JOCCA)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
_kecil.png){kind=logo}
