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Upper body bone and muscle profiles in non-elite prepubertal female gymnasts
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Abstracts / Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 12 (2010) e1–e232
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Upper body bone and muscle profiles in non-elite prepubertal female gymnasts
The role of sport injury and injury risk perceptions on children’s continued participation in organised sport
L. Burf 1,∗ , G. Ducher 2 , G. Naughton 1 , D. Greene 1
E. Siesmaa ∗ , C. Finch, J. Blitvich, A. Telford
1 Centre Of Physical Activity Across The Lifespan, Australian Catholic University 2 Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University
University of Ballarat
Introduction: Relatively little is known about the musculoskeletal profile of non-elite gymnasts, compared with research on elite gymnasts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of recreational artistic gymnastics on upper body bone and muscle parameters in prepubertal girls. Twenty-two non-elite gymnasts (mean age 8.5 years [range 6–10 years], height 134 cm [range 116–145 cm] and mass 31 kg [range 19–42 kg]) were recruited. Gymnasts had been training for a minimum of six months (mean 6.5 h wk−1 ) Methods: Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT) was used to obtain bone cross sectional area (CSA), muscle CSA, fat CSA and an estimate of bone strength (strength strain index, SSI) at 66% proximal radius. From these measures, bone, muscle and fat area were calculated. Published reference data in age-matched girls were used to calculate Z-scores for pQCT-derived variables. A seated medicine ball throw was used to measure upper body strength and power. Muscle endurance was estimated using a weighted arm sequence. One sample t-tests were performed to test pQCT Z-scores against zero. Pearson correlation coefficients estimated associations between pQCT, muscle function tests and hours of physical activity between gymnasts and a group of nine controls (mean age 8 years [range 6–10 years], height 134 cm [range 128–141 cm] and mass 31 kg [range 26–39 kg]). Results/discussion: Non-elite gymnasts had smaller bone CSA than the norm (height-adjusted Z-score: −0.74, p = 0.008). Conversely, gymnasts had a greater SSI (heightadjusted Z-score: 0.79, p = 0.002) than the norm. Positive associations were found between physical activity and muscle area (r(29) = 0.475, p = 0.007), medicine ball throw (r(29) = 0.524, p = 0.003) and weighted arm sequence (r(29) = 0.507, p = 0.004). Compared with normative data, non-elite gymnasts displayed favourable profiles for bone strength and muscle function. Conclusion: Muscle and bone benefits may be found in non-elite artistic gymnasts who train an average 6.5 h wk−1 . These musculoskeletal benefits are evident following nonelite participation in artistic gymnastics with an average training age of 2 years. However, a stronger understanding of the musculoskeletal adaptations to loading can only be ascertained from longitudinal data.
Introduction: Child sport participation, both in Australia and internationally, has increased during the past decade and the health benefits associated with child sport participation are now well established. Some evidence suggests that sport participation contributes importantly to children’s overall levels of physical activity, thus helping to reduce the risk of childhood obesity and associated childhood diseases. Although the benefits of sport participation are known, sport injury among children has become an international public health concern and it remains unclear how sport injury impacts children’s long-term sport involvement. This research aimed to undertake a qualitative investigation of the impact of sport injury experiences and injury risk perceptions on children’s on-going sport participation. Methods: Focus group discussions, each with 6–10 children who were involved in an organised (after school) sport, were conducted until saturation of themes was obtained. Children were recruited from sports including badminton, soccer, golf, swimming, dance, netball and cricket and participated at a community or sub-elite level. Each focus group session was approximately 30 min in duration. Questions focussed on children’s sport participation, reasons for their continuation or discontinuation of sport involvement, the encouragement or discouragement they received from parents, any injuries they had sustained while participating and whether sport injury discouraged children or their parents from child sport participation in the future. The qualitative research software NVivo was used to analyse the discussions. Results/conclusion: Few children were concerned about the risk of sport injury while participating in sport. However, many children discussed not wanting to play sports such as football, rugby or boxing, perceiving these sports as too rough, and with increased chance of injury. The main reasons children reported for discontinuation of sport involvement were lack of enjoyment and restrictions of their time. Children reported parents to be supportive of their sport behaviours regardless of safety concerns. No instances of parents preventing child sport involvement were reported by children. This study forms part of a larger study, to determine the influence of child and parent injury perceptions on sport choice and participation. Findings will inform sporting bodies of sport injury and safety concerns held by children and their parents, highlighting areas that can be targeted in order to retain child participants. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2009.10.042
doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2009.10.041
Abstracts / Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 12 (2010) e1–e232
40
41
Upper body bone and muscle profiles in non-elite prepubertal female gymnasts
The role of sport injury and injury risk perceptions on children’s continued participation in organised sport
L. Burf 1,∗ , G. Ducher 2 , G. Naughton 1 , D. Greene 1
E. Siesmaa ∗ , C. Finch, J. Blitvich, A. Telford
1 Centre Of Physical Activity Across The Lifespan, Australian Catholic University 2 Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University
University of Ballarat
Introduction: Relatively little is known about the musculoskeletal profile of non-elite gymnasts, compared with research on elite gymnasts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of recreational artistic gymnastics on upper body bone and muscle parameters in prepubertal girls. Twenty-two non-elite gymnasts (mean age 8.5 years [range 6–10 years], height 134 cm [range 116–145 cm] and mass 31 kg [range 19–42 kg]) were recruited. Gymnasts had been training for a minimum of six months (mean 6.5 h wk−1 ) Methods: Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT) was used to obtain bone cross sectional area (CSA), muscle CSA, fat CSA and an estimate of bone strength (strength strain index, SSI) at 66% proximal radius. From these measures, bone, muscle and fat area were calculated. Published reference data in age-matched girls were used to calculate Z-scores for pQCT-derived variables. A seated medicine ball throw was used to measure upper body strength and power. Muscle endurance was estimated using a weighted arm sequence. One sample t-tests were performed to test pQCT Z-scores against zero. Pearson correlation coefficients estimated associations between pQCT, muscle function tests and hours of physical activity between gymnasts and a group of nine controls (mean age 8 years [range 6–10 years], height 134 cm [range 128–141 cm] and mass 31 kg [range 26–39 kg]). Results/discussion: Non-elite gymnasts had smaller bone CSA than the norm (height-adjusted Z-score: −0.74, p = 0.008). Conversely, gymnasts had a greater SSI (heightadjusted Z-score: 0.79, p = 0.002) than the norm. Positive associations were found between physical activity and muscle area (r(29) = 0.475, p = 0.007), medicine ball throw (r(29) = 0.524, p = 0.003) and weighted arm sequence (r(29) = 0.507, p = 0.004). Compared with normative data, non-elite gymnasts displayed favourable profiles for bone strength and muscle function. Conclusion: Muscle and bone benefits may be found in non-elite artistic gymnasts who train an average 6.5 h wk−1 . These musculoskeletal benefits are evident following nonelite participation in artistic gymnastics with an average training age of 2 years. However, a stronger understanding of the musculoskeletal adaptations to loading can only be ascertained from longitudinal data.
Introduction: Child sport participation, both in Australia and internationally, has increased during the past decade and the health benefits associated with child sport participation are now well established. Some evidence suggests that sport participation contributes importantly to children’s overall levels of physical activity, thus helping to reduce the risk of childhood obesity and associated childhood diseases. Although the benefits of sport participation are known, sport injury among children has become an international public health concern and it remains unclear how sport injury impacts children’s long-term sport involvement. This research aimed to undertake a qualitative investigation of the impact of sport injury experiences and injury risk perceptions on children’s on-going sport participation. Methods: Focus group discussions, each with 6–10 children who were involved in an organised (after school) sport, were conducted until saturation of themes was obtained. Children were recruited from sports including badminton, soccer, golf, swimming, dance, netball and cricket and participated at a community or sub-elite level. Each focus group session was approximately 30 min in duration. Questions focussed on children’s sport participation, reasons for their continuation or discontinuation of sport involvement, the encouragement or discouragement they received from parents, any injuries they had sustained while participating and whether sport injury discouraged children or their parents from child sport participation in the future. The qualitative research software NVivo was used to analyse the discussions. Results/conclusion: Few children were concerned about the risk of sport injury while participating in sport. However, many children discussed not wanting to play sports such as football, rugby or boxing, perceiving these sports as too rough, and with increased chance of injury. The main reasons children reported for discontinuation of sport involvement were lack of enjoyment and restrictions of their time. Children reported parents to be supportive of their sport behaviours regardless of safety concerns. No instances of parents preventing child sport involvement were reported by children. This study forms part of a larger study, to determine the influence of child and parent injury perceptions on sport choice and participation. Findings will inform sporting bodies of sport injury and safety concerns held by children and their parents, highlighting areas that can be targeted in order to retain child participants. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2009.10.042
doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2009.10.041