Want stronger bones? Play soccer

The adolescent years are crucial for bone development in boys and once they hit puberty, the next five years are significant.

During these years, boys are very active in various kinds of sports and it is not known which type of loading sport plays a more significant role in bone development in boys.

To test this, researchers from the University of Exeter compared soccer players to swimmers, cyclists and a control group to investigate the effect of sports on bone development in a year.

116 adolescent boys, aged 12-14 years at baseline were monitored for a year. There were 37 boys who played football, 37 swimmers, 29 cyclists and 14 were in the active control group.

The athletes in this study played high-level sports in England while the control group consisted of boys who were generally active but were not involved in regular sport.

Bone mineral content (BMC) was assessed at the lumbar spine (lower back) and femoral neck (upper leg) which were both key sites for osteoporosis and fractures. Bone texture of the lumbar spine was also assessed using trabecular bone score (TBS).

The results showed that soccer players had significantly higher BMC at lumbar spine (7 per cent) and femoral neck (5 per cent) compared to cyclists.
Soccer plays also exhibited greater TBS (4.3 per cent) compared to swimmers and greater TBS (4.2 per cent) compared to cyclists.

There was no difference between cyclists and swimmers and both groups had non-significant bone acquisition compared to the control group.

Poor development of bones at adolescence can lead to reduced peak bone mass – the amount of bone mass at the end of skeletal maturation at age 30 – which can lead to increased risk of fractures and osteoporosis in later life.

Although both swimming and cycling have many health benefits, this study raises the questions –  if they are actually beneficial for bone development as they are not weight-bearing exercises.

This also indicates that other weight-bearing exercises like tennis, badminton and basketball will have the same effect as soccer on bone development and it might be important for swimmers and cyclists to include weight bearing exercises in their regime.

Although the soccer players in this group played as much as nine hours a week, the researchers suggest that even playing for 3 hours a week will have the same effect.

So it’s time to get your young ones kicking their way to stronger bones.

Source: Journal of Bone and Mineral Research