见到网上关于参加本次奥运会的中国女子体操队几名运动员实际年龄的争论。中国的
体操队教练坚持队员的年龄都在奥运会规定的16 岁参赛年龄以上，奥运会的有关官
员也报告说，经检查，中国女子体操队队员的护照上注明的年龄也的确是16 岁以上。
但争论并没有就此停止，主要原因基于中国体操队部分队员看上去和16 岁的年龄好
象“不符”。据报导，甚至在奥运会结束后，争论可能会有进一步的发展。这不但
涉及到中国体操队，中国政府的信誉，也涉及到整个奥林匹克运动和组织的规则与
信誉。
除了白纸上写的数字外，实际上是有科学的办法来帮助检查和鉴定人的实际年龄的。
这在骨科和法医学方面都不是什么秘密。
在网上就可以找到这方面的资料(见下面)，因为儿童的骨骼发育与年龄和营养状况
有直接的关系。医学上常用骨龄(骨骼年龄的简称)，来确定儿童的生物学年龄(即实
际的年龄)，还可以通过骨龄了解儿童的生长发育潜力以及性成熟的趋势。
不知道奥运会或国际体操组织是否有做这样检查的例子，从实际的角度来说，这是
件很简单但又事关重大的事，不是吗？
The Olympics’ age-old problem
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports，Aug 15, 2008
BEIJING ━ For a long time, elements of the Chinese government itself thought
women’s gymnast He Kexin was born Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14
and too young to compete in these Summer Olympics.
Whether it was repeated mentions in the government-controlled media ━ including
a new one uncovered Friday by the Associated Press ━ or on official gymnastic
meet registration forms and websites, He was "this little girl" and a "new star."
As recently as December 2007, in provincial gymnastics meets and news reports
that covered it, she was a 13-year-old prodigy, too young for the 16-year-old
Olympic age limit for gymnastics.
Then, suddenly, she wasn’t.
Earlier this year China produced her passport that claimed she was born
Jan. 1, 1992, making her old enough to perform a brilliant uneven bar routine
and push China to the women’s all around gold medal.
The Chinese either got it wrong in 2007 or wrong in 2008. Considering 2000
Chinese bronze medalist Yang Yun later admitted on state television she
was 14 that year, the reported ages of He Kexin and at least two of her
teammates have aroused suspicion in nearly everyone except the powers that
be ━ the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the International
Olympic Committee (IOC).
Both organizations accepted the new passport as fact, certified He and tried
to cover their collective ears at all the complaints. Wednesday, the IOC
even slipped a gold medal around He Kexin’s neck.
If the IOC had a modicum of decency and courage (don’t count on it), it
would open an immediate investigation into whether it might take that medal
right back.
If not for the of-age gymnasts who lost to the Chinese, then for He and
her diminutive teammates, who ━ if they actually are old enough ━ don’
t deserve suspicion tainting their accomplishment.
While the IOC undoubtedly is petrified of humiliating the host country in
such a scandal, doing nothing merely humiliates the IOC and continues the
belief that the organization is about money, not fair play.
For its part, the Chinese gymnastics delegation told the AP that the mistake
was made by the media and provincial officials, not on the passport. Everything
is on the up and up.
“It’s definitely a mistake,” Zhang Hongliang told the AP. “Never has
any media outlet called me to check the athletes’ ages.”
“We already explained this very clearly," Zhang said. "There’s no need
to discuss this thing again.”
Oh, but there is. The age of the Chinese gymnasts has overwhelmed the women’
s gymnastics competition.
It’s not just the wild and often ill-timed accusations by USA Gymnastics
team coordinator Marta Karoyli and her husband Bela Karoyli, who dubbed
the Chinese “half people.”
It’s the snickers from disbelieving fans around the world who can’t come
to grips with girls who look so young actually being 16.
The entire competition has lost credibility. Outside of China the focus
has been on the birth dates, not the brilliance of the Chinese athletes.
The IOC and FIG can’t continue to bury their heads and hope it will blow
away.
"The FIG has received confirmation from the International Olympic Committee
that all passports are valid for all gymnasts competing in the Beijing Olympic
Games," FIG said in a statement.
"Stringent control measures are taken at the time of athlete accreditation
for all official FIG competitions. Further, all athlete ages for the Beijing
Olympic Games are consistent with the FIG records for all past FIG competitions."
In an effort to protect the health of athletes whose bones and muscles have
not fully formed, FIG years ago instituted the 16-year-old age minimum.
To compete in these Games, a gymnast had to be born in 1992 or earlier.
A younger and presumably smaller gymnast would have an advantage in some
disciplines due to their nimble nature. Nadia Comaneci scored seven perfect-10s
in the 1976 Games when she was just 14.
Perhaps it’s believable that one person’s age could be so terribly confused.
However, He is just one of the gymnasts with suspicious confusion.
The birth date of Yang Yilin was listed on official national registration
lists posted by the General Administration of Sport of China website from
2004-2006 as a too-young Aug. 26, 1993, according to the AP.
On her passport her birth date is Aug. 26, 1992.
Jiang Yuyuan’s birthday was Oct. 1, 1993 as recently as a registration
list for a 2007 competition. According to her passport she was born Nov.
1, 1991.
All three of those gymnasts produced high-scoring performances on the uneven
bars that gave China a lead it would not relinquish in the women’s team
all around. It was one reason Marta Karoyli stomped around mocking the Chinese
to her American gymnasts, calling them ǒlittle babiesō and later claiming
one still had "baby teeth."
Karoyli’s suspicions were never wrong, just the style, means and timing
in which she and her husband expressed them. The fact that her team’s performance
was not strong and she expanded the conspiracies to include Olympic officials
who were supposedly distracting her gymnasts didn’t help (that accusation
was refuted by USA Gymnastics itself).
No matter the strength of the allegations, the moments after the competition
was not the time for Karoyli to throw a hissy-fit unbecoming of a team coordinator.
Gymnastics deserve better from everyone. This cloud of controversy isn’
t fair to the Chinese, the Americans or anyone else, and it shouldn’t be
played out in media quotes and old websites.
A real investigation with real explanations is long overdue. It’s time
for the IOC to do more than count the money here.
Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Send Dan a question or
comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/gymnastics/news?slug=dw-gymnastsage081408&
prov=yhoo&type=lgns
骨龄与儿童生长
2005年04月26日17:33
骨龄是骨骼年龄的简称，借助于骨骼在X光摄像中的特定图像来确定。在了解孩子的
骨龄情况时，通常要拍摄儿童手腕部的X光片，医生通过X光片观察骨化中心的出现，
骨块的发育以及骨_和骨干的愈合过程，来确定儿童的骨龄。
骨龄是人体成熟程度的良好指标。它不仅可以确定儿童的生物学年龄，而且还
可以通过骨龄及早了解儿童的生长发育潜力以及性成熟的趋势：通过骨龄还可预测
儿童的成年身高，骨龄的测定还对一些儿科内分泌疾病的诊断有很大帮助。
判断儿童骨龄有三种常用的方法：
1、根据手腕部骨化中心数来判断骨龄
观察受检儿童的手腕部萌出的骨化中心数来判断骨骼发育的成熟程度：如出现
头骨、钩骨时，骨龄相当于6个月：出现三角骨时，骨龄相当于3岁……该方法较适
应于7岁以前的儿童。
2、根据手腕部X光图谱来判断骨龄
将受检儿童手腕部的X光片与标准图谱作比较，当该儿童手腕部的骨化中心的数
目、形态及大小与标准图谱中某一年龄所示的骨化中心较为一致时，此图谱上的年
龄即为该儿童的骨龄。该图谱男女各一套，适合于0-19岁的儿童少年。
3、根据腕骨形态、大小等发育变化进行计分判断骨龄
将受检儿童手腕部各骨化中心的发育情况进行分期评分，累计总分后查出相应
的骨龄。此法较前两种方法更全面客观，也较精确，但因为方法繁琐、复杂、门诊
不常用。
研究表明，骨龄和儿童身高之间有著极其密切的相互关系：中等身材的儿童，
其骨龄与时间年龄相差在一年以内；高身材的儿童，骨龄超过时间年龄一年以上
（早发育）。如果将骨骼的成熟程度与儿童身高结合起来考虑，就可以判断儿童成
年后的身高类型。如果儿童的骨龄与身材均处于低水平，即骨龄落后，身材亦矮小，
则该儿童将来可以发育为正常身高者（属晚发育）；如果儿童骨龄落后，而身高中
等或偏高的，则该儿童可能发育成为高身材者（目前许多少年体校选拔运动员常寻
找这类型的儿童）；如果儿童骨龄较高，而身材却矮的，则将来很可能成为矮身材
者；如果儿童骨龄和身高均处于高水平，则该儿童生长潜力也不大，最终未必成为
高身材（属早发育）者。
需要指出的是，如果儿童的骨龄与时间年龄相差二年以上，则要到医院仔细检
查。因为骨龄的异常，常常是儿科某些内分泌疾病所表现的一个方面。
作为父母，当发现孩子的生长出现异常时，应尽早到医院请医生帮助寻找原因，
最好拍一张手腕部的X光片来判断骨龄，决定是否用药、用何种药物，切忌滥用“增
长剂”。这些药会加速骨骼愈合过程，反而抑制身高的继续增长。
http://baobao.sohu.com/20050426/n225350624.shtml
摘自： 够骨_前面过早融合骨_损伤的临床分
〔放射诊断学〕第二节 正常X线表现
（六）骨骨后(骨+后是一个字)板（Epiphysis）
位于长骨的两端。在胎儿及婴幼儿多为软骨，随著年龄增长而逐渐骨化，出现
继发性骨化中心或骨核。骨核初期为一个或多个点状致密影，逐渐增大，边缘可稍
不规则，最后与干_端融合。
骨龄（Bonr age）是指骨_的骨核及不规则形骨化中心出现及骨_与干_端融合的年龄。
根据骨龄可以推测骨骼的生长发育情况，有助于诊断。对诊断一些内分泌疾患等有
一 定价值。但它有一个正常标准范围，且因种族，地区及性别不同而有差异，应用
时要注意这些因素的影响。
（七）骨骨后(骨+后是一个字)板（Epiphyseal plate） 是骨_与干_端之间的软骨
（解剖学上称为_盘或软骨盘）。在幼儿长骨X线片上表现为较宽的横行透光带，随
著年龄增长而逐渐变窄，形成一条透光线，X线学上称它为_线，应注意与骨折线相
鉴别。最后，骨_与干_端进行骨性联接形成骨端，长骨停止生长，骨_线随之消失，
有时残留一条致密线痕迹。
http://www.med66.com/html/2007/8/zh791622720182870026754.html
