Musculoskeletal System Differences Between Children and Adults

Musculoskeletal System Differences between Children and Adults
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Musculoskeletal System Differences between Children and Adults
The musculoskeletal system between children and adults is quite different. Understanding these differences is quite important as it helps in the determination of the possible differences that can happen in the skeletal system of babies and that of adults. An understanding of the differences is also important as it helps in the determination of the physical exercise that children and adults can take part in.
One of the things that set the musculoskeletal system of infants and adults apart is that infants have more bones as compared to adults. The reason for this is because adults bones fuse together to form single bones as they age. When this happens, the fused bones are counted as one instead of counting them as different as is the case in young children. Another difference between the bones of children and adults is that the musculoskeletal system of young children is composed of cartilage while that of adults is composed of solid bone tissue. As the aging process takes place, the bones undergo an ossification process which transforms the cartilage into bone (Pate, 2011).
The other difference between the bone structure of children and that of adults is that the bone structure of children is more flexible as compared to that of aged people. The reason for this is because of the large cartilage that is present in the musculoskeletal system of infants. The process of growing the bone structure goes on until the 20’s. This explains why aged people are less likely to develop osteoporosis like young people who are at a greater risk. In order to ensure that the bone structure of children develops adequately it is important for the child to be given the right nutrition to help ...