ABSTRACT
While there has not been widespread discussion of ethical aspects of research on children in exercise and sports settings2 the topic is not a new one in health care and medical ethics (Nicholson, 1986; Brazier and Lobjoit, 1991; Alderson, 1992; Kopelman, 2000; Spriggs, 2004). The omission is instructive in itself. Yet there is an increasing literature in the fields of the natural sciences of exercise and sports regarding children’s anatomy and physiology, developmental studies and kinanthropometry. It should be clear that children form the largest category of what is typically referred to as a ‘vulnerable population’ in research design and research ethics. In this chapter we will focus on them for this reason, though it should be clear that many of the considerations will apply – mutatis mutandis – to other vulnerable populations as well. Nevertheless, we amplify our remarks where appropriate to other vulnerable populations. One main aim of the chapter is to make the reader (further) aware of the various professional guidelines that exist to govern research in this area: the World Medical Association (WMA) Declaration of Helsinki, on the one hand, and the guidance offered by the British Medical Association (BMA), the Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health (RCPCH; formerly the British Paediatric Association [BPA]), and the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS).3 We go on to highlight some theoretical difficulties in their application and, at the end of the chapter, conceptually challenge the labelling ‘vulnerable populations’ itself.
