Are growing pains caused by growth spurts?
THE CLAIM: Growing pains are caused by growth spurts. THE FACTS: The aches and pains strike in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. For decades, doctors have dismissed them as normal signs of growing in small children, and said the pain was harmless. Most textbooks attribute these “growing pains” to the stretching of leg muscles, caused by the rapid growth of bones. Despite widespread acceptance of this claim, there is virtually no evidence that it is true. Most studies have found instead that the pains — which can affect nearly half of all children — result from brittle bones and physical activity, in particular, overuse from running, climbing and jumping during the day. In 2005, for example, a study in The Journal of Rheumatology recruited 39 children with symptoms of growing pains and compared them with a control group. After ultrasound tests, the researchers found that the children in the pain group had decreased “bone speed of sound” — a measure of bone strength and
