7. Sport for special groups.

Sports participation among children is declining. Sport and physical activity are important in childhood for optimising bone mass and reducing obesity and insulin resistance. Physical activity reduces cardiovascular risk factors in adults, and can improve survival in patients with cardiac failure. Musculoskeletal injury is the most common complication of sports participation in adults - not cardiac events. Some of the decline in function which occurs with ageing can be positively affected by regular physical activity.