Key result
Adolescent track-and-field athletes show discipline-specific physiological differences and a pronounced relative age effect under 13.
Why the study?
To review the physiological aspects of adolescent track-and-field athletes.
Highlights the need for a discipline-specific approach in adolescent track-and-field athletes due to varying anthropometric and physiological characteristics.
May inform discipline-specific training in young track athletes; leaves open prospective validation of relative age effects.
The present study aimed to review the physiological aspects of adolescent track-and-field (TAF) athletes. A search of Scopus on 27/12/2022 using the syntax ABS (track-and-field) AND ABS (children) OR ABS (adolescent) showed 121 documents, and 45 were considered for further analysis. In addition, handsearching was conducted to identify Russian literature missing in Scopus. Differences were shown in performance characteristics among disciplines, especially between throwers and the other athletes. The sex difference in performance (ie, a better performance in boys than in girls) started in early adolescence. A relative age effect was more pronounced in athletes under 13 years old. Despite the wide use of nutritional supplements, an insufficient intake of vitamins has been found. The age of training onset and body weight were identified as risk factors for problems with menarche. The inclusion of track-and-field training programs in physical education was beneficial for health and physical fitness. The need to collaborate closely with parents and coaches was identified, especially, regarding education in topics such as the age of training onset, relative age effect, and doping. In conclusion, the existence of many disciplines with different anthropometric and physiological characteristics highlighted the need for a discipline-specific approach.
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Nikolaidis et al. (2023) conducted a review in Adolescent track-and-field athletes (n=45). A review of 45 documents on adolescent track-and-field athletes found discipline-specific physiological differences and a pronounced relative age effect in athletes under 13 years old.
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