Child’s Skeleton

As we have learnt, a baby’s skeleton is comprised mainly of cartilage. As a baby grows into a child the ossification process is started. This is where the cartilage is remodelled into bone.

Bone in children undergoes serial changes and adaptations to achieve its adult form over a period of years as the child reaches maturity.

For example, the ossification center of the greater trochanter appears at the age of 3 in girls and 6 in boys, whereas that of the lesser trochanter appears at the age of 6 in both girls and boys. The secondary ossification centers for the pubis appears at 9-11 years in girls and at 13-16 years in boys. 

Over a period of a few years after age 2, knee alignment progresses to a physiologic genu valgum, which spontaneously corrects itself to a normal tibiofemoral alignment by about 7 years of age.

Babies’ ossified kneecaps only develop in the third year or later.

Growth along the epiphyseal plate continues until the cells in the growth plate stop dividing in puberty, and closure of the growth plate occurs in young adults when the metaphysis and the epiphysis fuse. Ossification is completed in adolescence only. Once a child’s skeleton has fully developed we see that the lower limbs are now 30% of body weight compared to 15% in babies.

Skeletal growth and muscle development result in an overall increase in strength and endurance for physical activities. Bones grow; increase in length, width, strength; and change in composition. This skeletal growth is not consistent; head, hands, and feet reach their adult size earliest. Bones calcify, replacing the cartilaginous composition of bones making them denser and stronger.

Skull

By the time a child reaches age 2 to 3 the bones of the skull are fully connected with suture like connections, creating a ‘crash helmet’ structure, the bony elements of the new born skull will continue to fuse into 22 skull bones in adulthood. There are now no ‘soft spots’ on the skull, producing a rigid protective shell for the soft nervous tissue of our brain.

The facial sinuses do not reach the same size as an adult until the age of 10/12 years.

Why do we need to know?

Understanding the development of the Skeletal structure as a child grows ensures we are using correct asanas within classes. It also helps us to choose stretches and asanas which compliment the stage of development a child is at, enabling all children to truly benefit from our classes.