Effects of gymnastic on growth and pubertal maturation in young girls

Objectives. – The purpose of this literature review is to describe the effects of intensive gymnastic training in young international girls.Topics. – Studies on female international gymnasts show that intense and precocious training have significantly incidence on physiological parameters. Growth and pubertal maturation were significantly slowed down. It has been suggested that physical training may increase bone mineral density. Gymnasts might apply more force to their skeleton, mainly to their limbs: arms and legs. Compared to these studies, our results suggest that gymnastic seems to be well supported by young athletes. If deleterious effects of this intensive practice exists (on growth, pubertal maturation, body composition), there are few and translate an inappropriate and excessive physical training.Future prospects. – According to the different studies, the substantial differences of results could be explained by the magnitude of individual variations. Intensive and precocious training effects need to be studied to evaluate possible osteo-articular injuries and growth disorders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]