THE EFFECTS OF HIGH IMPACT EXERCISE ON BONE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG GIRLS By ALISON

Intro: The Jump In study seeks preventative options for osteoporosis through high impact exercise in young girls. This preliminary analysis examines the changes in bone growth and development of girls after 1 year of the jumping intervention vs. a control group. Methods: This paper focuses on 78 girls, half of whom were involved in 1 year of a school-based jumping exercise intervention. The girls bone strengths were measured along the femur and tibia using DXA and pQCT, and values were compared between the intervention and control groups. Results: The preliminary findings showed a greater increase in strength values at the sites on the tibia for the intervention group over the control group, although most of these values were not yet considered significant. The trends were the same for the femur although the changes were not as pronounced. Conclusion: It was predicted that weight-bearing exercise is osteotrophic and will elicit significant increases in bone mass, trabecular and cortical densities, and bone strength in pre-pubescent and early pubescent girls, and although these increases are not statistically significant yet, it is likely that the full-scale data analysis will fully support this hypothesis.