Evidence of the Short- and Long-term Effects of a Residential Stay in a Danish Christmas Seal Home - With and Without a High-intensity Activity/Health Education (FIFA 11 for Health) Programme.

Design Approx. 600 boys and girls aged 7-14 years are recruited from two Danish Cristmas Seal Homes (DCSHs) during 2018-2020. The design is a cross-over design at DCSH level over a two-year period with two intervention groups: a standard group (with the standard programme (SG)) and a standard + FIFA group (SG+). In SG+, the children, in addition to the standard programme, play recreational football for 2x45 min a week. In SG, the children perform the activities according to the regular schedule. In SG+, consist of different football exercises (dribbling, ball control, passing, etc.) and small-sided games with high intensity (3v3 to 5v5) using two goals. Every week, a specific football skill is linked to a health message, e.g. the skill of passing the ball to one another is linked to mutual respect and avoiding bullying.

Training protocol Recreational football The risk of injury for young players is markedly higher (5 times higher) in football match-play than in football training. While it is noted that muscle strains and twisting injuries in joints can also occur during training with small goals, the injury frequency for 10-year-old children in football training is approx. 5 per 1,000 training sessions, and hence low. Furthermore, the FIFA 11 for Health pilot study, which involved Danish 10-11-year-old schoolchildren, did not record any injuries during the training.

Tests and measurements The participants are tested at the start and end of their 10-week residential stay at the DCSH. Furthermore, there are follow-up tests 3 and 12 months after their stay. The four test days include measurements of physical fitness, physical performance, cognitive functions and questionnaires about health knowledge, well-being and sleep patterns. For further descriptions, see below.

Each test day, lasting approx. 4-5 hours, is planned in collaboration with DCSH staff and implemented by a member of the scientific group (human physiologists).

Anthropometric measurements: Body weight and standing and sitting height are measured using a portable body composition analyser (InBody 720) and an altimeter, respectively. The InBody 720 also provides an estimate of muscle mass and fat percentage. After a minimum of 10 min of resting in the supine position in a quiet room, measurements of resting heart rate and blood pressure are performed.