Football is Medicine

Comprehensive research has shown that small-sided football is an intense, versatile combination of strength, endurance and aerobic high-intensity interval training and that twice-weekly 1-hour football training sessions can be used in the prevention, treatment or rehabilitation of non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes and prostate cancer; and that football training in schools and football clubs has great potential to increase fitness, psycho-social well-being, motor skills, cognitive functioning and learning for children and adolescence. This Football is Medicine special issue in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports is adding significantly to the knowledge regarding the use of football training in schools and the use of football training as part of the short- and long-term treatment of pre-diabetes and prostate cancer.  

Guest editors are: Dr. João Brito (FPF, Lisbon, Portugal), Dr. Craig A Williams (University of Exeter, United Kingdom) and Dr. Morten Randers (University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark).

The Chinese Edition of the Football is Medicine special issue is available for download here.

The following article is now available online via Wiley Online Library

The “Football is Medicine” platform – scientific evidence, large-scale implementation of evidence-based concepts and future perspectives

Krustrup, Peter; Williams, Craig; Mohr, Magni et al.

The following article is now available online via Wiley Online Library

Football training improves metabolic and cardiovascular health status in 55- to 70-year-old women and men with prediabetes

M.-B. Skoradal, P. Weihe, P. Patursson, J. Mortensen, L. Connolly, P. Krustrup, M. Mohr

The following article is now available online via Wiley Online Library

“FIFA 11 for Health” for Europe in the Faroe Islands: Effects on health markers and physical fitness in 10– to 12-year-old schoolchildren

Skoradal, May-Britt; Purkhús, Elisabeth; Steinholm, Hildigunn; Olsen, Maria; Ørntoft, Christina; Larsen, Malte; Dvorak, Jiri; Mohr, Magni; Krustrup, Peter

The following article is now available online via Wiley Online Library

Exercise training in overweight and obese children: recreational football and high-intensity interval training provide similar benefits to physical fitness

Cvetković, Nemanja; Stojanović, Emilija; Stojiljković, Nenad; Nikolić, Dusan; Scanlan, Aaron; Milanovic, Zoran

Hear more about the use of football in the battle against child obesity:

The following article is now available online via Wiley Online Library

Football training over 5 years is associated with preserved femoral bone mineral density in men with prostate cancer

Uth, Jacob; Fristrup, Bjørn; Haahr, Rasmus; Brasso, Klaus; Helge, Jørn; Rørth, Mikael; Midtgaard, Julie; Helge, Eva; Krustrup, Peter

The following article is now available online via Wiley Online Library

Cardiovascular adaptations after 10 months of intense school-based physical training for 8- to 10-year-old children

Larsen, Malte Nejst; Nielsen, Claus; Madsen, Mads; Manniche, Vibeke; Hansen, Lone; Bangsbo, Jens; Krustrup, Peter; Hansen, Peter

The following article is now available online via Wiley Online Library

Osteogenic impact of football training in 55- to 70-year-old women and men with prediabetes

Skoradal, May-Britt; Helge, Eva; Jørgensen, Niklas Rye; Mortensen, Jann; Weihe, Pal; Krustrup, Peter; Mohr, Magni

The following article is now available online via Wiley Online Library

Executive summary: Recreational football training as medicine

Brito, João; Williams, Craig A.; Randers, Morten B.