Children Should Skip for Stronger Bones

Children should be encouraged to jump and skip as often as possible to improve their bone health, according to a new Australian study. 80 per cent of bone mass is accrued in the first 20 years of life and especially around puberty because of the circulating hormones. Physiotherapists at the Griffith University in Queensland asked children with an average age of 14 to perform a tenminute warm- up of star- jumps, side lunges and skipping twice a week before their PE lessons. At the start of the eight- month study, the children could manage only around 50 jumps; by the end, they could do 300 and their bone and muscle strength had improved significantly.