Short answers on sport

It's a question I'm asked surprisingly often: is there any direct evidence that links physical activity with stunted growth? And the answer is no — on the contrary, exercise has been proven to improve a person's physical and psychological well-being.

The idea that sport and exercise could have a detrimental effect on growth has stemmed from weightlifting. Research shows that, while occurrences are extremely rare, stunted growth is most commonly the result of compromised blood circulation to our growth, or epiphyseal, plate.

In weightlifting it could potentially be caused by allowing poor technique to go uncorrected over time rather than the exercise itself.

Growth plates are found in our long bones (femur) and, as the name suggests, are where the growth occurs. In children this growth plate hasn't fully developed and is still in the form of cartilage. It's not until our late teens that the growth plate has completely developed into an epiphyseal line.

In sports generally, the only risks are through external impact, most likely a limb fracture that goes through the growth plate itself. With this in mind, don't worry about your child enjoying playing sports, exercise or just messing around in the back garden.

In fact, copious amounts of research show that sport and exercise in any form have way more pros than cons; they have been shown to help relieve stress, strengthen bones, improve balance, co-ordination, and can help with children's social skills within a team sports environment.

So if we grow up shorter than we'd like, it will be our genes that are to blame, not our exercise history. Besides, as I'm not the first bloke to say, size isn't everything.

David Higgins is co-founder of TenPilates (TenPilates.com)