Question

Full-contact sports seem to be a part of everyday life for many children (e.g. football, hockey, martial arts, wrestling, rugby, lacrosse, etc.). In terms of bone development, is this wise? Discuss risk versus reward. Are we promoting healthy lifestyle activities or causing damaging health effects? Please specify age groups within your discussions because, as we know, a five-year-old’s skeleton is much different than that of an eighteen-year-old.

Answer 1

In terms of bone development it is very wise to encourage children to take part is sports at an early stage, the advantages far outweighs the disadvantage.

Bone formation starts in the fetus 6 months before birth and is not generally complete until adolescence which is between ages 13 and 20, though bone formation or remodelling can occur in later stage of life.The childhood years are the best time to develop healthy bones. During this time, new bone growth (bone formation) is greater than bone loss (bone resorption). This is an important time to build strong bones so due to this reason, we should encourage children to take part in contact sports. Several studies have found that boys and girls who consistently participated in contact sports between the ages of 5 and 17 ended up with better bone density at age 20 than those who dropped out or never played. Bones respond to the loads placed on them,There is convincing evidence that the growing skeleton has a better ability to respond to loads ( stress) than the adult skeleton does. Therefore being part of contact sport during early ages, allows for optimal bone acquisition, leading to higher bone mass in young adulthood, and later life. The only negative aspect of children participating in sports is that certain injuries carry the potential for long-term damage, especially the severe ones,are the growth plate injuries seen in children.Growth plates are the areas of active, new bone growth near the ends of bones. most often most growth plate fractures happen from falling or twisting, contact sports like football or basketball or fast-moving activities like skiing, skateboarding, sledding, or biking. Some growth plate injuries can cause problems later in adult life. Other injury like, Crushing injuries, though relatively rare in sports, represent the greatest potential for permanent disability.

But the bottom line is that, The fear of injuries or delayed growth is no reason to discourage young children from sports participation these injuries can be prvented by following a proper guideline, the benefit of good fitness in early life, lasts forever.