Book that explores the use of “Football as Medicine” released
A book edited by Dr Daniel Parnell, Senior Lecturer in Sports Business at the Management School, and Professor Peter Krustrup, Professor in Sport and Health at University of Southern Denmark, has recently been released.
“Football as Medicine - Prescribing Football for Global Health Promotion” focuses on football in the context of health, from individual, public and population-level perspectives. It brings together 15 years of research when describing the effects of football training on cardiovascular, metabolic and musculoskeletal fitness.
The book also provides up-to-date knowledge of the impact of recreational football for target populations like children, type 2 diabetes patients, cancer patients, people with mental health conditions, the socially deprived and older people.
Dr Parnell commented “We are delighted to see the Football as Medicine book through to completion and now publication. The list of contributors is incredible and the knowledge and learning available within the book is testament to their respective and cumulative decades of work undertaken on this truly unique agenda.
This book signals a landmark moment and arguably a line in the sand with respect to what we know works for the Football as Medicine agenda. We now need to make sure policy makers, managers and practitioners are equipped with the know-how to take action. Whether this is delivering effective football based public health interventions, or building the case to protect existing football playing fields.
Ultimately, now is the time for action and this book gives those in power the understanding and information to make evidence-based decisions to expand and extend the potential impact of football delivering health related outcomes.”
Professor Krustrup says “To make a long story short: Our research shows that football is broad-spectrum medicine, a polypill against lifestyle diseases. The reason for that is that football is an effective and intense hybrid training type, combining strength training, endurance training and HIIT training, with broad-spectrum health effects on heart function, blood pressure, fat mass, cholesterol, muscle strength, postural balance, bone mineralization.
Football is best practice exercise, but more than that: Football is a fun, social and popular sporting activity, with great potential for creating adherence to an active lifestyle and with great potential for global health promotion.”
A total of 72 authors representing 18 countries has contributed to the book. With its multi-disciplinary approach, the book is a valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners working in physical activity and health, public health, health promotion and medicine, football and sport business management, sport science, and the sociology of sport.