Ch–5 Children and Women in Sports

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Contents

Motor development and factors affecting it.
Exercise guidelines at different stages of growth and development.
Common postural deformities-knock knees, flat foot, round shoulders, Lordosis, Kyphosis, Scoliosis and bow legs and their respective corrective measures.
Sports participation of women in India.
Special consideration (menarche and menstrual dysfunction)
Female athlete triad (osteoporosis, amenorrhea, eating disorders)

Motor Development: The word Motor, here, refers to movement of human body, whereas the word Development refers to growth and changes that occur as life progresses. Such changes may be result of age or experience. Thus, we can say that motor development refers to the development of a child’s bones, muscles and ability to move around and manipulate her or his environment.

Motor development is divided in two types:

1. Gross Motor Development: It involves the development of large muscles in the body which helps child to stand, sit, jump etc.

2. Fine Motor Development: It involves development of small muscles of the body. These muscles help to do find works like catching, throwing, kicking, balancing, etc.

Motor Development in Children

1.Early Childhood ( 3 to 6 years)

The period of early childhood starts from 3rd year and continues till 6th year.
The motor development during this period takes place rapidly.
This stage is also known as the preschool years.
In this period, a child becomes perfect in various fundamental movements such as running, jumping and throwing.
In this period, children’s stride length increases and they develop a more mature running pattern.
During this period, proficiency in climbing on ladders becomes efficient. They can hop and gallop skilfully.
The motor development at the end of early childhood achieves a satisfactory level.
Systematic training of children in various sports such as gymnastics and swimming can be started because their basic movements like rolling, hanging, pushing, pulling, etc., become efficient.

2. Middle childhood (7 to 10 years)

Middle childhood starts from 7th year and continues up to the 10th year.
During this period, children become active and agile.

They have strong desire to engage in various physical movements and activities.
During this period, children have a desire to compete with children of their own age group.
During this period, most of the children achieve mature patterns of fundamental motor skills.
Their posture and balance become better.
Coordinative abilities also show a higher level of development in this age group, whereas flexibility develops at a very slow rate.

Factors Affecting Motor Skills

1. Parents and Heredity: As children get genes from parents as heredity thus motor development follows the same pattern as their parents.

2. Environment: Clean, safe and natural environment is healthy and good for motor development activities.

3. Regular Practise: With regular practice motor development is improved and perfection is gained.

4. Gender or Sex Difference: there is deference of motor development between boys and girls.

5. Proper Training: For motor development and skills perfection proper coaching and training is required.

Exercise guidelines at different stages of growth and development

1. Infancy (1 to 2 years)

During this stage of growth and development, physical activity or exercise should be encouraged.
Gross motor activities or exercises should be promoted.
Exercises to develop head control, sitting, crawling, etc., should be encourage.
Infants should be provided objects, toys and games that encourage them to move and do things for themselves.
Watching TV and other electronic media should be avoided by the infants.
They should be encouraged to walk instead of using a stroller to carry them around.
Simple exercises like throwing, catching and kicking a ball may be most suitable exercises during the stage of infancy.

2. Early Childhood (3 to 7 years)

During this stage, such physical activity like throwing, jumping, catching should be encouraged which helps in developing competence in movement skills.
Emphasis should be laid down on participation and not on competition.
Activities related to fine motor skills, i.e., coordinative abilities should be emphasised.
Creative as well as enjoyable methods should be used to encourage them for participation in various physical activities.
Stress should also be laid on clean and safe environment during this stage of growth.
They may be allowed to watch quality programmes on TV for one to two hours.
Physical activities should be performed daily for at least sixty minutes by children during this stage of growth.

3. Later Childhood (8 to 12 years)

During this stage, children should indulge in activities such as, stunts, throwing, jumping, etc., so that they can acquire body-control, strength and coordination.
Activities related to endurance should be avoided.
Stress should also be laid down on organised or team games which aim to develop social-consciousness in them.
Children should be introduced to competitive sports and taught the basic rules of sports competition, i.e., enjoying the game, fair play, simple strategies and tactics.

4. Adolescence (13 to 19 years)

During the stage, moderate to vigorous intensity exercise is recommended for at least 60 minutes and up to several hours every day.
They should also indulge in muscle strengthening exercises at least three days per week.
They should also include bone strengthening exercises.
Adolescents or teenagers should reduce sedentary behaviour.
Physical activity or exercise such as running, gymnastics, push-ups, skipping, basketball, swimming, and resistance exercises (weight training) should be included.

5. Adulthood (Above 19 years)

Adults should try to be active always.
They should do brisk walking, bike riding, dancing, and swimming with moderate intensity.
They should also indulge in running, aerobic exercises, weight training, push-ups, sit-ups, etc., for muscle strengthening.
They should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary.
Adults require exercises that help to increase their muscular and bone strength.
For bone strengthening, they should include running, skipping, and weight training exercises.

Participation of Women in Sports in India

It has been understood that men is for market and women is for home and family.
Women are often perceived as being too weak for sports activities and it was often argued in the past that sports was harmful to women's health, particularly their reproductive health.
In ancient Olympic Games, women were not allowed to participate but in modern Olympic Games are active member (except in first modern Olympic Games)
Today the modern society has accepted the women's participation in sports and it has risen to a great extent as compared in the past.
Today battle for equality between men and women sports rages on.
Despite all these India continuous to treat its sports women shabbily.
The famous Indian Olympic women boxer Mary Kom says that Indian social system does not approve women's participation in sports. She had to face lots of problems for upcoming into sports like social culture, finance, lack of support, sexual harassment etc.

This trend of women participation in sports has also improved in Indian society and the women's participation has increased.
In urban areas, female participation in sports is high whereas it is less in rural areas.
Indian society should encourage their participation; moreover, government should form policies to improve their participation.

Causes of less participation of Indian women in sports

1. Lack of family support: Indian family restrain woman to go outside alone. Thus Indian women face non-supports from family to participate in sports.

2. Sexual Harassment: In India women face lot of sexual harassment when in public. Moreover lack of public support has reduced the women participation in the sports.

3. Poor facilities for girls in India: There are poor facilities for girls like number of woman coaches is less and the girls do not feel comfortable with male coaches or trainers, even some stadiums don’t have ladies toilets.

4. Lack of Girls Safety: The girls in India are not much safe as they have to face lot of problems like eve-teasing, unethical remarks, rubbish comments etc. This reduces the women participation in sports.

5. Overburdened and Household Needs: Indian women are overburdened to perform the household needs like cooking, cleaning, caring of children etc. Thus they have less time to participate in sports.

Common Postural Deformities

1. Knock Knees: In this postural deformity the legs are bent inward and knees strike each other while walking or running. In knock knees problem, the knees join together while there is wide gap between the ankles. This is also known as Genu valgum.
Causes:
Rickets, weak legs, obesity during childhood, overweight, any disease, etc.
Corrective measures:
Horse riding, keeping the pillow between the knees, outward walking, yoga asanas like Vrikshasana, Akarn Dhanur Asana, Padmasana helps to cure knock-knees.

2. Flat foot: It is an abnormal condition of foot in which arch of the foot comes in contact with the ground, i.e., no arch in the foot and the foot is completely flat. In flat foot the inner curve of foot bulges more than normal. It is also known as Pes Planus or fallen arches.
Causes:
Wearing flat slippers or shoes, poor quality shoes without sole curves, obesity and overweight, prolonged standing, weak muscles of foot.

Corrective Measures:
Exercises like walking, standing or jumping on toes, regular running, skipping rope, walking on sand, picking up marbles with toes, writing numbers in the sand with the and Yoga Asanas like Tarr Asana, Vajrasana and other therapeutic massages.

3. Round Shoulder: It is the postural defect in which shoulders become round and sometimes they are bent forward.
Causes:
Carrying overloaded school bag by children, wearing tight fitting clothes, weak muscles of chest and shoulder, wrong posture during reading or writing over chair or bed etc.
Corrective Measures:
Strengthening and stretching of muscles and, keeping the spine straight, T stretch, wall stretch, Handclasp stretch and planks, pull ups, reverse shoulder stretch. Yoga asanas like Chakrasana, Dhanurasana, can be useful in correcting rounded shoulders.

4. Kyphosis: It is the condition of spine in which the curvature of the upper back increases and causes hump at the back of the body. Thus, body weight is shifted forward. It causes unbalanced position of individual while standing, walking or running. It is also known as Hunch Back or Round Upper Back.
Causes:
Heredity, aging, disease, malnutrition, pulling of heavy weight over a period, unstable furniture, poor postural habit, weakness in muscles etc.
Corrective Measures:
Physical therapy, swimming, exercises with bands, using a flat bed with a thin pillow while sleeping and yoga asanas like Dhanurasana, Chakrasana and Bhujangasana.

5. Lordosis: It is the problem of lumbar-spine. In this postural deformity the lumbar-spine bends in front beyond the normal level. In lordosis, the body weight is shifted backward. Thus, lot of pressure is over heels and causes back pain. It is also known as Hollow Back.
Causes:
Weak abdomen muscles, overweight or obesity, sedentary lifestyle etc.
Corrective Measures:
Sit-ups, forward bending, sitting against the wall and pushing the trunk backward, lying on the back and raising upper extremities and legs together, use of braces, weight reduction, maintaining a good posture and yoga asanas including Dhanurasana, Paschimotasana, Trikon asana, Halasana.

6. Scoliosis: It is the problem of spine in which vertebral column bends to sideward. In this disorder, the spine bends, twists or rotates in a way that it makes a C or an S shape. It causes one shoulder down and other is raised up. Body weight is shifted to sideward and it causes lot of pressure on one side of the foot.
Causes:
Leg length difference, lifting weight towards one side in routine, rickets, paralysis, sitting or standing in a wrong position, etc.

Corrective Measures:

Exercises like hanging on the horizontal bars and swinging should be done on opposite side of the C-shaped curve, chin-ups, aerobic activities with slow pace, breaststroke in swimming and yoga asanas like Trikonasana, Ardh Chakrasana, Tarr Asana etc

7. Bow Legs: This is the defect of legs in which legs bend outward. The space between knees widens up and legs take curve shape. It causes lot of pressure over lateral edges of feet.
Causes:
Rickets, deficiency of Vitamin D and calcium in diet, early childhood walking with weight, obesity, etc.

Corrective Measures:
Use of braces and modified shoes, sufficient intake of balanced diet, walking on the inner edge of the feet, yoga asanas like Ardh-Chakrasana, Garud Asana and Ardh Matsendrya Asana, should be performed.

Special Consideration

1.Menarche

Menarche is the beginning of menstrual cycle or first menstrual bleeding in female.
It is a sign of growing up of girl and becoming a woman.
Girls experience menarche between 12 to 14 years of age. It varies in females due to biological, genetic, environmental and nutritional factor.
After the onset of Menarche female experiences series of psychological and Anatomical changes during puberty like attainment of sufficient body mass, secretion of oestrogen by ovary, gain in height, breast enlargement, growing of public hair etc.

During menarche female can participate in light to moderate physical activity without any complication, whereas heavy training schedule of physical activity can be participated with care of personal cleanliness and hygienic habits. If complication arises during menstrual dysfunction due to physical activity female should consult gynaecologist or doctor.

2.Menstrual Dysfunction:

Menstrual dysfunction is a disorder in women's menstrual cycle.
It can be defined as abnormal bleeding in absence of intra-cavitary.
During menstrual dysfunction most of the women complaint about breast pain, back pain, cramps, tiredness etc.
Treatment for uterine bleeding may include hormonal therapy, anti-fibrinolytics.
During menstrual dysfunction female can participate in light to moderate physical activity without any complication, whereas heavy training schedule of physical activity can be participated with care of personal cleanliness and hygienic habits. If complication arises during menstrual dysfunction due to physical activity female should consult gynaecologist or doctor.

Female Athlete Triad

Female athlete triad is a syndrome in which osteoporosis, amenorrhoea and eating disorders are included. It is simply known as ‘triad’. The triad is a serious disorder or illness with lifelong health consequences and can be fatal.
In fact, it is a syndrome of three interrelated conditions.

If a woman athlete is suffering from any one condition of the triad, it is likely that she may also be suffering from the other two conditions of the triad.
With the increase in women’s participation in sports, the chances of women athlete triad are also enhanced.

Symptoms of Triads

The symptoms of triad may include:

Fatigue
Frequent injuries
Loss of endurance and power
Irritability
Increased healing time for injuries
Enhanced chances of fracture
Cessation of menstruation
Low self-esteem

1.First Triad: Osteoporosis
In case of osteoporosis, weakening of bones occur due to the loss of bone density and improper bone formation. Low oestrogen levels and poor nutrition, especially low calcium intake can lead to osteoporosis.

2.Second Triad: Amenorrhoea
Women suffering from menstrual dysfunction or amenorrhoea for more than six months are likely to face osteoporosis because the secretion of the hormone called ‘oestrogen’ is decreased in this condition.

3.Third Triad: Eating disorders:
Eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia may also cause osteoporosis because the calcium intake may be less or insufficient.

Eating Disorders

1. Anorexia Nervosa: In this eating disorder, the female athletes think only about food, dieting and body weight all the time. They have distorted body structure. Other individuals usually feel them that they are becoming thin but they do not believe this. In front of the mirror they see themselves as obese.

2. Bulimia Nervosa: It is also an eating disorder in which a female athlete eats excessive amount of food and then vomits it in order not to gain weight. In this disorder, an individual binges on food and feels a loss of control. Then, to prevent weight gain, tries to vomit the food.