Abstract

In order to investigate an effect of exercise on physical growth and maturation, physical characteristics and skeletal age were measured for 34 boys of control group and 37 boys of soccer group. Skeletal age was evaluated from hand wrist radiographs by TW II method. Result showed that the values of physical characteristics in the control group were larger than those in the soccer group, but the differences were not statistically significant. Mean skeletal age in each age group of the soccer group closely approximated the chronological age, but that in the control group was inclined to proceed earlier than the chronological age. The correlations of all the physical characteristics with skeletal age were higher than with chronological age in both groups. These correlations with chronological age in the soccer group were lower than those in the control group. Based on the values of the subjects in this study, this fact leads to the conclusion that skeletal age is in fact a better predictor of physical characteristics than chronological age is. Physical characteristics of the boys in the soccer group correlate higher with skeletal age than with chronological age. In relation to the skeletal maturation, each physical characteristics in the group shows a similar growth. In the soccer group, weight and chest girth show differences of growth from other physical characteristics. Verf.-Referat