The Fat-Free Body and Subcomponents of the Fat-Free Body to Height Relationship between Swimmer and Nonswimmer...

This study was designed to determine whether there were differences in the relationships between fat-free body (FFB) to height and the subcomponents of the FFB-bone mineral content, bone width, bone mineral index, and total body water (TBW)-to height relationships among male and female age-group swimmers and nonswimmers. The 178 subjects (ages 8-16 yrs) were grouped by gender and activity level. Least-squares regression analysis was used to test the above relationships. Although there were no statistically significant differences in the FFB to height or the subcomponents of the FFB to height relationships between swimmers and nonswimmers in the male sample, the swimmer lines depicting the relationships typically fell above those of their nonswimmer counterparts. In the female sample, the FFB and TBW to height^2.4 relationships differed significantly between the two groups, with the swimmers having greater values per unit of height than the non-swimmers.