Study says these sports are better for young athletes than just running

By Alice Clifford via SWNS

Sports such as soccer and basketball are better for young athletes’ bone health than just running, according to a new study.

Sports such as soccer involve different kinds of movement in all directions, unlike running, scientists say.

They said players sprint, then walk back, then make a challenge, and then dribble around players which avoids putting too much strain on bones.

However, activities such as cross-country running involve monotonous and constant movement, which puts bones under the same strain, making athletes more likely to pick up bone stress injuries.

Researchers recommend that young athletes play multi-directional sports instead of specializing in just running, especially at a young age, to prevent injuries and strengthen their bones.

“Our data shows that playing multidirectional sports when younger versus specializing in one sport, such as running, decreased a person’s bone injury risk by developing a bigger, stronger skeleton," said Professor Stuart Warden, of Indiana University's School of Health and Human Sciences.

“There is a common misperception that kids need to specialize in a single sport to succeed at higher levels.

"However, recent data indicate that athletes who specialize at a young age are at a greater risk of an overuse injury and are less likely to progress to higher levels of competition.”

To gather results, researchers used high-resolution imaging to examine athletes' shin bone near the ankle and bones in the feet, as this is where runners often pick up stress injuries.

They found that the bones of athletes who participated in both running and multidirectional sports when they were younger were ten to 20 percent stronger than those who only ran.

“Our research shows that the runners who played multidirectional sports when younger had stronger bones as collegiate athletes, which puts them at less risk for bone stress injuries including stress fractures," Warden said.

“We want to ensure people have better, stronger bones as they grow, become adolescents and go through life.

"Specializing in one sport at too young of an age means they are more likely to get injured and not make it at the collegiate and professional levels.”

Looking to the future, the research team recommends parents, coaches and trainers to think twice about pushing young athletes to specialize in sport too early - to prevent putting damaging strain on their bones.

The study was published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.