Seniors Who Play High-Impact Sports Have Better Bones

Lots of seniors continue to participate in high-impact sports into their later years.  (By high-impact sports, we mean baseball, basketball, football, handball, hockey, karate, racquetball, running, soccer, or waterskiing.)  You might think that this is risky, due to the expected thinning bone density in old age, allowing a greater likelihood of impact-induced fractures.  However, you might be wrong, according to a study reported in the journal Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach.  

Data was obtained during the 2005 Senior Olympics.  560 athletes completed a detailed questionnaire on health, and had ultrasound measurement of their heel bone density.  They were classified into high-impact or non-high-impact sport participants.  High-impact sports covered basketball, road-race (running), track & field, triathlon, and volleyball. 

Overall, the average age was 66; half the participants were women.  And roughly half of them participated in high-impact sports.  The average body mass index (BMI) was 26.  T-scores, the measure of bone mineral density in the heel bone (calcaneum) averaged 0.4 and -0.1 for the high-impact and non-high-impact groups, respectively.  Obviously, the high-impact group had better bone health.  The relationship was demonstrated to be statistically significant, after adjustment for age, gender, obesity, and use of medications to prevent osteoporosis.

This means older people shouldn’t give up their favorite sports, just because they are getting older and worry about injury.  They’ll do better, from a health viewpoint, than their non-exercising friends.  And just about anyone over 65 can take up weight training, which will have similar benefits.