FUNCTIONS OF CHILDREN THAT ARE DIFFERENT TO THOSE OF ADULTS

Cabrera, M. E., & Bar-Or, O. (2001). Are children better 'biological machines' than adults? Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33(5), Supplement abstract 1.

"From the metabolic stand point, children have lower muscle lactate levels, faster VO2 kinetics, and less O2 deficit than adults at the same relative work rate, suggesting less anaerobic energy contribution for a given task. Children reach both lower peak lactate levels and muscle Pi/PCr than do adults during incremental exercise, suggesting less reliance on non-oxidative energy sources. These observations may suggest that children are 'better machines' than adults. However, recent studies claim that many of these differences may be related to the approach/method employed to analyze the data. Moreover, other factors (e.g., size, gait, speed of walking/running, mechanical energy storage/recovery) play a role in determining the body's mechanical and metabolic efficiencies especially at high exercise intensities. Thus, a crucial question remains: Are children's mechanical and metabolic efficiencies greater than those of adults?" (p. S1)

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