Abstract des Autors

The purpose of this study was to examine the spinal posture in young athletes depending on training intensity. The spinal curvature of 245 children, age 8 to 12 years, was evaluated using rasterstereography. According to their weekly training time group 1 (mean age: 9.54 +/- 1.18) did 2-6, group 2 (mean age: 9.49 +/- 0.87) did 6-15 and group 3 (mean age: 9.68 +/- 0.87) did over 15 hours of training. Group 1 had a significantly higher weight (p = 0.028) (33.86 +/- 7. kg) than those of the more active groups (30.67 +/- 6.49 kg and 29.46 +/- 4.33 kg). The mean kyphotic angle decreased significantly (p < 0.001) with the amount of training per week from 46.86 +/- 8.2° in group 1 to 40.08 +/- 8° in group 3. We also found a significant decrease (p = 0.047) in lateral deviation with training from group 1 with 5.3 +/- 3 mm to group 2 with 4.1 +/- 1.6 mm. The results of our study suggest that higher training time can be associated with lower weight and decreases in thoracic kyphosis and lateral deviation of the spine. Verf.-Referat