[Athletic training of children and adolescents: growth and maturation more important than training for endurance in the young].

The effects of physical training in children differ from those in adults. The study of longterm effects is hampered by the lack of standardised criteria of growth in size and strength, and the standard variables usually adopted (percentage change in weight or body surface area) are as artificial as the absolute values. A review of available evidence suggests the effects of training on aerobic and anaerobic capacity, muscle strength, and flexibility to be limited before puberty, to be impossible to measure during the physical development of pubescence, and not to yield manifest benefit until after puberty. In contrast, prepubescent training of technique and motor skills yields lasting benefits, whereas--as with adults--the benefits derived from training of condition and strength rapidly disappear if not continually maintained.