Lovely hurling for kids’ health – clash of the ash is perfect way to build strong bones
HURLING has been hailed as the fastest field sport in the world – and it could also provide a quick way for children to strengthen bones and muscle.
Experts have hailed the sport as providing an ideal range of exercises for youngsters.
Sallie Lamb, professor of Trauma Rehabilitation at the University of Oxford, said hurling was a “fantastic sport” for building children’s bone bank.
Striking the sliotar with the hurl allows for high impact which helps build bone while players also benefit from high-speed running during a game.
“It provides impact through the legs and also the arms,” she said, speaking at the annual conference of the Irish Association of Physiotherapists in Galway.
Prof Lamb added: “Bones and muscle carry you through life. As a child, you invest in your skeletal and muscle system.
“It’s a bit like having a bank account. You are putting money in as a child and adolescent.”
She said other activities such as tennis are also beneficial, as not all children are interested in competitive team sports.
The important message for parents is to structure time to ensure that children are active – particularly when they may be tempted to spend more time on the computer or smart phone.
However, parents can encourage children to download more active games such as
‘Dance Dance Revolution’.
The best of these type of games for are good for bone health, as they involve children jumping.
“That bone bank account is very important to make sure you have a healthy life for as long as possible,” she added.
For most people, the amount of bone tissue in the skeleton peaks in their 20s.
At that point, bones have reached their maximum strength and density.
Up to 90pc of peak bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls and age 20 in boys, which makes youth the best time for people to “invest” in their bone health.
Meanwhile, the conference was told a study by three respiratory physiotherapists shows that, despite evidence supporting the provision of cardiac rehabilitation for patients who have suffered a stroke or mini-stroke, access to these programmes in Ireland “remains largely unavailable”.
Chartered physiotherapists Sarah Moore, Helen Kavanagh and Emer O’Shea warned there was only one facility in the country that accepted direct access for patients following a stroke.
“Barriers to the enrolment of individuals with stroke onto the programmes included lack of resources and staffing and overcapacity of cardiac rehabilitation programmes.”
They also include lack of expertise of staff, different psychological, communication and cognitive issues of this population, and the lack of a referral pathway for these patients.