Vigorous physical activity patterns affect bone growth during early puberty in boys

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the impact of participation in vigorous physical activity as it can promote a healthy bone development. Adolescents who increased their participation in vigorous physical activity showed higher improvements in bone parameters compared to those who did not, which highlights the relevance of vigorous physical activity engagement. Introduction The main purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of different patterns of vigorous physical activity (VPA) on bone development. Methods One-week accelerometry registers and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans at the whole body, hip, and lumbar spine of 140 healthy male adolescents (11-13 years, at baseline) were performed twice with a 1-year interval between measurements. Four patterns of VPA evolution (Blow-low,^Blow-high,^Bhigh-low,^and Bhigh-high^) and three patterns of bone growth (Boptimal,^Bmean,^and Breduced^) were defined according to the median participation in VPA and a cluster analysis of the longitudinal changes in BMC and BMD in all sites measured, respectively. Bone mineral parameters were adjusted for skeletal age and body weight prior to statistical comparison among groups. Results Participants in the Blow-high^group had greater adjusted BMD increases at both the femoral neck and lumbar spine when compared to the Blow-low^group (estimated mean (95%

Is device-measured vigorous physical activity associated with health-related outcomes in children and adolescents? A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A total of 3612 potentially relevant articles were identified, and, after screening for duplicates, 601 full-text studies were assessed for inclusion after checking titles and abstracts. Finally, 23 studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in the systematic review 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 and 21 in the meta-analysis. The reasons for exclusion based on full texts are reported in Supplementary Material 2.…”

“…The studies involved a total sample of 13,674 children and adolescents with mean ages between 4.5 years and 17.5 years at baseline (mean age: 10.0 years). Most studies included boys and girls (49.7% and 50.3%, respectively), with the exception of 5 studies that included only boys 29 , 33 , 36 , 45 , 47 and two only girls. 39 , 42 Sample sizes across studies ranged from 88 33 to 4770 44 participants.…”

“…Regarding health-related outcomes, most studies reported data on adiposity, 26 , 27 , 28 , 32 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 47 , 48 cardiometabolic risk factors, 26 , 30 , 32 , 35 , 38 bone outcomes, 29 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 39 , 40 , 45 , 46 and health-related physical fitness 27 , 38 , 41 , 48 ( Table 1 ).…”

Physical Activity in Puberty Is Associated with Total Body and Femoral Neck Bone Mineral Characteristics in Males at 18 Years of Age

“…Vigorous PA in puberty was an important predictor of FN BMD and FN BMC also in stepwise regression analysis. The effect of vigorous PA on FN bone mass and density during puberty has been previously reported from cross-sectional [17,19,40] as well as from longitudinal [25,26] studies. The values of FN BMD and FN BMC showed the strongest association with PA parameters in comparison of different skeletal sites due to the highest responsiveness to physical stimulus [19].…”

“…Findings from longitudinal studies support the importance of PA for bone mineral accrual [22,23,24,25,26]. However, regarding PA, most of these studies have concentrated on the earlier stages of puberty, and the study periods have been relatively short.…”