Why Body composition assessment is done in sports and exercise?
Body composition assessment is generally done in sports and exercise for the following reasons:
1) It can serve as the basis for interventions, such as training or diet.
2) It can act as a health screen.
3) It can be useful in identification of ideal physique for talent search within specific sports in which physique is likely to influence performance (morphological optimization). Specific parameters which may influence exercise performance, depending on the sport. For example, height matters in basketball and two athletes of similar body weight; one having higher body fat percentage may be good for swimming and the other one for athletic events.
4) It cans determine' healthy body weights for athletes. Optimal competitive body weight and relative fatness should be determined when an athlete is performing at his best.