Postural balance is a foundational component of human motor behavior, yet it remains conceptually ambiguous and methodologically heterogeneous across the clinical, educational, and sport sciences. This narrative review aims to provide an integrative framework that clarifies key concepts (postural control vs. postural balance), synthesizes the main sensorimotor and biomechanical mechanisms underpinning balance, and organizes current assessment approaches and functional implications across populations. Narrative literature synthesis was conducted to integrate evidence covering multisensory integration and sensory reweighting, central neural control (spinal, brainstem, cerebellar, and cortical contributions), neuromuscular and biomechanical strategies (e.g., ankle/hip/stepping), and cognitive influences (e.g., dual-task effects). We further summarize commonly used instrumental outcomes derived from force-platform center-of-pressure metrics and widely adopted clinical and functional balance tests, highlighting their typical applications and limitations across the lifespan including pediatric, general adults, older adults, and athletic populations. This review proposes a closed-loop, systems-based model in which postural balance is conceptualized as an emergent functional outcome arising from distributed postural control processes shaped by task, environmental, and individual constraints. In conclusion, integrating mechanistic understanding with population-specific assessment enhances interpretability and supports more precise, context-sensitive balance evaluation and intervention in both health and performance settings.

Introduction: to combat the COVID-19 pandemic governments have adopted measures such as quarantine and social distancing. Objective: the main objective of the present study was to analyze the impact of COVID-19 quarantine on body mass in combat sports athletes. Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional, prospective, multi-center study that evaluated 234 men (mean age and standard deviation, 29 +/- 10 years) residing in Argentina (n = 38); Bolivia (n = 1); Brazil (n = 105); Chile (n = 30); El Salvador (n = 1); Spain (n = 22); Mexico (n = 22) and Peru (n = 15). Of these, 12 practiced Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), 54 boxing, 67 judo, 13 karate, 52 kick boxing & muay thai (KB & MT), 9 mixed martial arts (MMA), and 27 taekwondo (TKD). An online survey was created using Google Forms. It was implemented between April 4th and April 17th, 2020. Athletes were consulted about their body mass before starting the quarantine and after 20 +/- 5 days of quarantine. Results: athletes in all combat sports were heavier during quarantine as compared to pre-quarantine (p < 0.001, d = 0.12). Conclusions: combat sports athletes experienced an increase in body mass during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Background/Objectives: Soccer involves high physiological demands that induce neuromuscular fatigue, muscle damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress, impairing recovery between training sessions and competitions. Polyphenols have been proposed as a nutritional strategy to modulate these responses; however, evidence in soccer players is limited and heterogeneous. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the evidence on the effects of polyphenol supplementation on post-exercise recovery in adult male soccer players. Methods: A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines, with a protocol registered in the Open Science Framework. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating polyphenol supplementation versus placebo on post-exercise recovery in adult soccer players were included. Searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library up to April 2026. Risk of bias was assessed using RoB 2, and certainty of evidence using GRADE. Due to heterogeneity, a qualitative synthesis was conducted. Results: Eight RCTs were included. Interventions involved tart cherry juice, pomegranate juice, beetroot juice, curcumin, and tea extracts. Evidence was inconsistent for biomarkers of muscle damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress, with most studies reporting no significant differences versus placebo. In contrast, beneficial trends for perceptual outcomes, particularly reduced muscle soreness and improved subjective well-being, were mainly observed in studies using tart cherry juice, beetroot juice, and curcumin. Evidence for oxidative stress and functional recovery was limited and heterogeneous. Certainty of evidence was low for most outcomes and very low for oxidative stress and functional recovery. Conclusions: Polyphenol supplementation, particularly tart cherry juice, beetroot juice, and curcumin, may improve perceptual recovery in adult male soccer players, particularly by reducing muscle soreness and enhancing subjective well-being. However, evidence on physiological biomarkers and functional recovery remains inconsistent and of low certainty. Further well-designed RCTs are required to establish robust recommendations in competitive soccer.

Background: Social media use has significantly transformed adolescents’ lifestyles, raising concerns about its impact on health and eating behaviors due to its potential association with eating disorders. Objective: To determine the relationship between social media use (SMU) and the risk of eating disorders (ED) in adolescent girls aged 14 to 17 years from a school in Lima, Peru. Methods: Observational, analytical, cross-sectional study conducted with 269 secondary school students. The Social Media Addiction Questionnaire (ARS) was used for the “Social Media Use” dimension, and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was employed to assess the risk of eating disorders (ED). Sociodemographic and anthropometric variables were collected. The analysis included descriptive statistics, Student’s t-test, Pearson’s chi-square, and Poisson regression models with robust variance, adjusted for age and BMI-for-age category. Results: The mean age was 14.9 ± 0.73 years, and the prevalence of ED risk was 35.7%. Adolescents at risk of ED had significantly higher SMU scores (21.24 ± 6.77) compared to those not at risk (19.36 ± 5.94; p = 0.019). Regression analysis showed that each additional point in SMU was associated with a 3% higher prevalence of ED risk (adjusted PR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.005–1.054). Conclusions: Higher social media use was associated with an increased risk of ED in adolescent girls, independent of age and BMI-for-age. These findings underscore the need for educational strategies promoting critical social media consumption and ED prevention among adolescents.

La enfermedad por coronavirus 2019 es una enfermedad infecciosa que se identificó por primera vez en la ciudad de Wuhan en China. Hasta la fecha, la obesidad sarcopénica y la desnutrición proteica-energética mantienen una estrecha asociación con la aparición de formas graves de COVID-19, por lo que la presente revisión se centra en la importancia de una alimentación y ejercicio físico adecuados con el objetivo de disminuir la severidad de las infecciones por COVID-19 y de qué forma estos confluyen para complementar tratamientos médicos. Un exceso de grasa corporal y la aparición de desnutrición, nos mantienen más vulnerables a contraer la enfermedad por coronavirus; una pandemia de gran magnitud que, para distintas organizaciones internacionales de salud, se encuentra vinculada a dos tópicos centrales: La nutrición y el ejercicio físico. El desarrollo y aplicación de nuevas intervenciones nutricionales y de ejercicio es requerida con urgencia con el objetivo de no solo reducir la obesidad, desnutrición y sarcopenia adquiridos durante la pandemia de la enfermedad por coronavirus sino también para brotes virales que posiblemente puedan acontecer a futuro. Coronavirus disease 2019 is an infectious disease that was first identified in the city of Wuhan in China. To date, sarcopenic obesity and protein-energy malnutrition maintain a close association with the appearance of severe forms of COVID-19, so this review focuses on the importance of adequate nutrition and physical exercise to reduce the severity COVID-19 infections and how they come together to complement medical treatments. An excess of body fat and the appearance of malnutrition, keep us more vulnerable to contracting the coronavirus disease; a pandemic of great magnitude that, for different international health organizations, is linked to two central topics: nutrition and physical exercise. The development and application of new nutritional and exercise interventions is urgently required with the aim of not only reducing obesity, malnutrition and sarcopenia acquired during the coronavirus disease pandemic but also for viral outbreaks that may possibly occur in the future.

El monohidrato de creatina es uno de los suplementos más estudiados en el mundo de la nutrición deportiva por su rol energético e hipertrófico en el músculo esquelético. En la actualidad, se puede estar subestimando el amplio espectro de beneficios terapéuticos que aporta a la salud en otra población que pueda requerir de sus ventajas, como el sector clínico, más allá de solo relacionarlo con la mejora en las adaptaciones al ejercicio físico. En esta revisión narrativa se tiene como objetivo abordar la interacción de la suplementación con creatina y la salud del cerebro humano, conforme a la investigación disponible que hasta la fecha se ha publicado en humanos; principalmente, los efectos de la ingesta regular en la función cognitiva, las enfermedades neurodegenerativas y los trastornos psiquiátricos. La evidencia científica apoya firmemente los beneficios de la suplementación con creatina en personas que presentan los llamados errores innatos del metabolismo, como el síndrome de deficiencia de creatina causado por alteraciones genéticas en GAMT y AGAT. Además, en la función cognitiva, la suplementación con creatina podría ofrecer mayores beneficios en sujetos estresados o adultos mayores. También brindaría un efecto adicional ante los trastornos relacionados con la depresión y los síntomas de depresión unipolar y bipolar, si se combina con la medicación antidepresiva. En estas cuestiones anteriormente mencionadas, la literatura se encuentra en cierta forma mejor dilucidada en comparación con los presuntos beneficios en enfermedades neurodegenerativas, como las enfermedades de Parkinson y Huntington, y por el momento menos respaldada en el caso de la enfermedad de Alzheimer. Se requiere una mayor cantidad de investigaciones realizadas a mayor escala y con mejores diseños de estudio en humanos, con el fin de elaborar mejores protocolos de suplementación en poblaciones que presentan distintas condiciones de salud. Palabras clave: creatina, cerebro, depresión, trastornos