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It sounds either really crazy, or kind of obvious. But according to new research, pick-up soccer could help homeless men avert¹ the risk of an early death.

 

Homeless people are known to have poor health and life expectancy². Due to a variety of factors, including in large part cardiovascular disease. The homeless have high levels of hypertension and are more likely to be addicted³ to smoking, alcohol and other drugs. They also don't spend much time in high-intensity physical exercise. Gyms, even when free, haven't proven to be appealing.

 

So researchers recruited 55 homeless men living in Copenhagen to join in the soccer study. Half were assigned pick-up games, two or three times a week, for 12 weeks. And half served as the control. The scientists measured the men's body composition, blood lipid profile, blood pressure and maximal oxygen uptake before and after.

 

Those who played soccer reduced their body fat and LDL cholesterol⁴. Perhaps most significantly, their maximal oxygen uptake increased 11 percent. The study is in the European Journal of Applied⁵ Physiology⁶. 

 

Previous studies suggest that such an oxygen increase can greatly lower the risk of death. That's a game with a win-win outcome.

 

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Cynthia Graber.

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