According to a new study, long-term elite rhythmic gymnastics exerts positive effects on volumetric bone density and bone geometry in adolescent girls.

The study will be published in The Endocrine Society''s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Symeon Tournis, MD, of the University of Athens in Greece and lead author of the study, said, "Previous studies of adolescents have found an association between weight-bearing exercise and increased bone density and bone strength. Our findings show that training in rhythmic gymnastics significantly improves bone health in adolescent girls. Given that osteoporosis traits start in childhood, it is possible to speculate that if girls maintain their gymnastic training beyond adolescence, even if their training is less intensive, they may have a reduced risk of bone fracture later in life."

Researchers, in the study, evaluated the bone health of 49 girls between the ages of 9 and 13 years. Twenty-six of the girls were elite rhythmic gymnasts who had trained for at least two years, and 23 girls had only physical-education related activity.

It was also reported that researchers measured volumetric bone density, bone mineral content and cortical thickness (the outer shell of the bone) in each girl and found that girls who had undergone intensive rhythmic gymnastic training had increased cortical thickness and bone strength.

Tournis further said, "There are a small number of studies that have evaluated the effect of weight-bearing exercise on bone mineral density and bone geometry. However, to our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effect of long-term elite rhythmic gymnastics on bone geometry using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) along with detailed evaluation of bone turnover markers." (With Inputs from Agencies)