Affiliations: [a] Physical Activity and Sports Science Research Group (GICAFE), Faculty of Education, University of Balearic Islands, Balearic Islands, Spain | [b] Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Adrià Muntaner-Mas, Physical Activity and Sport Science Research Group (GICAFE), Faculty of Education, University of Balearic Islands, Ctra. de Valldemossa, km 7.5, E-07122 Balearic Islands, Spain. Tel.: +34 971172875; E-mail: adria.muntaner@uib.es.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the biggest health problems worldwide. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between sports participation (duration and type) and LBP related outcomes in childhood. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 5th and 6th grade primary school students. The final sample included 2,032 children aged 10–12 years old. Children completed a questionnaire about the prevalence of LBP and some LBP-related outcomes. In addition, the participants were surveyed about the type of sport they did and the duration. RESULTS:There appears to be no relation between sports participation and severity of LBP-related outcomes studied, independently of their duration. Participating in football ⩾ 4 hours per week was associated with a decrease of six LBP-related outcomes (OR ranging from 0.54 to 0.66). Basketball participation does not seem to affect the development of back problems amongst children. CONCLUSIONS: It can be suggested with caution that doing sport is not dangerous for LBP problems in children aged 10–12 years old. Nevertheless, this suggestion should be tested with further longitudinal and intervention studies to confirm the results.
Keywords: Motor activity, football, basketball, prevalence, low back pain
