ABSTRACT
The increasing involvement of young children in intense physical training over the past decades has generated concerns as to its potential effects on children’s growth, maturation, and reproductive function (Mansfield and Emans, 1993). One of the sports liable for such concerns is gymnastics which, compared to other sports, entails initiation and intense physical training at a very young age. Reports in the literature describe weekly training volumes of young prepubertal and/or early pubertal gymnasts as long as 36 hours (Bass et al., 1998). It is not surprising, therefore, that some authors have described elite female gymnasts as at risk for short stature and delayed maturation (Frisch et al., 1981; Theintz et al., 1993; Bass et al., 2000). Elite male gymnasts have been found generally advanced in pubertal development for their age, but are generally short in stature (Buckler and Brodie, 1977). However, it seems reasonable that these results may be attributed to selection bias rather than gymnastics training per se.
