Bone mineral accrual in 4- to 10-year-old precompetitive, recreational gymnasts: A 4-year longitudinal study

Abstract

Competitive female gymnasts have greater bone mineral measures than nongymnasts. However, less is known about the effect of recreational and/or precompetitive gymnastics participation on bone development. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the differences previously reported in the skeleton of competitive female gymnasts are also demonstrated in young children with a current or past participation history in recreational or precompetitive gymnastics. One hundred and sixty-three children (30 gymnasts, 61 ex-gymnasts, and 72 nongymnasts) between 4 and 6 years of age were recruited and measured annually for 4 years (not all participants were measured at every occasion). Total-body (TB), lumbar spine (LS), and femoral neck (FN) bone mineral content (BMC) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Multilevel random-effects models were constructed and used to predict differences in TB, LS, and FN BMC between groups while controlling for differences in body size, physical activity, and diet. Gymnasts had 3% more TB and 7% more FN BMC than children participating in other recreational sports at year 4 ( p < .05). No differences were found at the LS between groups, and there were no differences between ex-gymnasts' and nongymnasts' bone parameters ( p > .05). These findings suggest that recreational and precompetitive gymnastics participation is associated with greater BMC. This is important because beginner gymnastics skills are attainable by most children and do not require a high level of training. Low-level gymnastics skills can be implemented easily into school physical education programs, potentially affecting skeletal health. ß

A longitudinal study of bone area, content, density, and strength development at the radius and tibia in children 4–12 years of age exposed to recreational gymnastics

“…Details of the YRGS have been published elsewhere [11]. In brief, 178 participants (4-6 years of age) were recruited between 2006 and 2009 into a mixed longitudinal study examining the influence of early life exposure to recreational gymnastics participation on bone development.…”

“…Details of the NPAQ as used in this cohort have been described in detail elsewhere [11]. In brief, the NPAQ ranks individuals based on parental reports of their child's current activity preferences and everyday activity choices [24].…”

“…Gymnastics training exposes the skeleton to high impact and dynamic mechanical loads that can exceed three to ten times that of body weight in both the upper and lower extremities. It has been previously documented that individuals involved in elite gymnastics training have enhanced aBMD, total body BMC, and estimated bone structural strength [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. These skeletal benefits are also documented to be maintained into early adulthood once gymnastic training has ceased [8,[15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…In contrast, recreational gymnastics is a much lower level type of gymnastics training, which exposes participants to gymnastics movement patterns such as swinging, jumping, landing, rotating, and balancing; these types of skills do not require a high level of training and can easily be taught to children. Children involved in these types of recreational gymnastics movement patterns have been previously documented to possess 3 % greater total body BMC, 7 % greater femoral neck BMC, and develop 3-7 % greater cross-sectional area and section modulus at the proximal femur [11,14]. Similarly, using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT), Erlandson et al [12] observed that children 4-9 years of age participating in the same recreational gymnastic program had significantly greater total bone content, total bone area, total bone density, and estimated strength at the radius and tibia compared to children who were not exposed to recreational gymnastics.…”

Higher premenarcheal bone mass in elite gymnasts is maintained into young adulthood after long-term retirement from sport: A 14-year follow-up

“…(5,6) It has also been found that sports training during childhood and adolescence increases bone mineral content and density. (7,8) However, it is unclear if the benefits are maintained after retirement from sport and removal of the osteogenic stimulus. Currently, the best evidence linking childhood exercise to bone health in adulthood arises from cross-sectional and short-term prospective studies in retired competitive athletes.…”