Your thoughts wanted on getting a ten year old certified.

[aquacat8]

That thing about possible inhibited bone growth is concerning. 10 is really young!
Alert Diver | Children and Diving

 

[aquacat8]

Reading it again it seems there is no evidence of the bone growth problem... I guess it was theoretically possible but years of teens diving has not shown it?

 

[boulderjohn]

That thing about possible inhibited bone growth is concerning. 10 is really young!
Alert Diver | Children and Diving

EDIT: I posted this before the above post appeared.

Did you read the full section on that topic? I have reproduced it here.

Is decompression stress a concern with regard to long bone development in children?

Mitchell: There is no evidence for it. The epiphyseal plates of the long bones do not close until late adolescence, and there has been extensive diving by teenagers for decades. Despite this, I am unaware of a single case of apparent growth inhibition in a limb as a result of decompression sickness in a teenager.

Charash: There are no studies that show clear evidence that diving (decompression stress) can affect long bone development in young divers. What is not so clear is the effect of microbubbles that may enter the circulation and possibly affect the blood vessels in the growth plates (epiphyseal plates). I suggest limiting children's exposure to nitrogen by restricting depth and dive time and increasing surface interval time.

March: We know that tissue perfusion in the growth plates is significantly different from that in most other body compartments. This is clear because we find pediatric patients much more susceptible to bloodstream infections in these areas. The standard gas-compartment models are likely inadequate as routine dive tables, and experimental confirmation is neither ethical nor practical. The general consensus of a margin of safety seems prudent.

Wakely: There is no evidence that the hyperbaric environment has any ill effect on growing bones. The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) lists 14 medical conditions that are known to benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). For two of these conditions, osteomyelitis (long-term bone infection) and osteoradionecrosis (bone damaged by radiation therapy), the HBOT addresses the underlying problem (infection and dead bone), encourages new blood vessels to form in the bone and allows the bone to heal itself. HBOT has no known negative effect on healthy bone of any age.

 

[aquacat8]

Thanks @boulderjohn you are right, I had misremembered it, they are saying it’s not shown, that is good!

 

[lowflyer]

If you decide to have your 10-year-old get certified, I suggest that she only dive with an instructor. Don’t be her buddy unless you are an advanced diver with rescue skills and keep her within arms reach. I’m not an instructor but have assisted instructors as a DM. I see these kids do the skills well enough to pass, but I personally have little confidence in their understanding of the book work they memorized for the test or their maturity to handle stress in an emergency. They can get befuddled if things don’t go as expected.

Just because a child “loves it” and “wants it” and is a “good swimmer” and gets the cert doesn’t make them safe. Same true of some adults, actually, but life has made them a bit more prepared.

I can’t help but be mindful of the 10 year old in Utah who recently died “diving” with his father. Admittedly he was not certified and was breathing off his father’s secondary, but something panicked him, and he shot to the surface holding his breath. You know what happens from that. You may dismiss this example as not pertinent, and maybe you are right, but…

 

[Manneca]

My son was certified when he turned 12. Literally, he turned 12 and got his certification. He studied the book stuff at home. We dived together for years in Bonaire--no hassle diving; no big currents; easy. Then he lost interest. He's now an instructor. It depends on the child. If my son had wanted to be certified at 10 and had it been possible then, he would have. I would have had no issues. This was in the era when kids took care of themselves. He would walk four long blocks to the small shopping center nearby. He'd go to friends houses. (I don't know if today's kids get that much autonomy.) If your daughter can take care of herself generally, is self reliant, then I wouldn't have a problem. If she's used to helicoptering parents, then I'd be reluctant.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

Reading it again it seems there is no evidence of the bone growth problem... I guess it was theoretically possible but years of teens diving has not shown it?

To slow bone growth it would have to suppress the pituitary, in turn suppressing growth hormone production, and if this was the case it would happen in adults too, basically diving would make you old and prone to unsealing wounds.

They used to also say that if children participated in strength training that they were prone to short stature, that it made the epiphyseal plates close early, we now know this isn't true either.

 

[Landau]

I've assisted pool and open water sessions with young children. They run the gamut from -

10 year old - OK with instructor by herself - terrible with mother bedside her
11 year old - really good and really safe, excellent judgement and buddy skills
12 year old - swim teamer - good once she learned to slow down and smell the anemones
14 year old - doing JR advanced - didn't want to be there, didn't listen, didn't do what the instructor asked him
14 year old - doing jr advanced, excellent and on the deep dive hung out at exactly 69 feet with me while we watched the adult students in the course go down the side of the wreck we were hovering over to 100 feet. Let me know when I had not paid attention and drooped below him to 70.5 feet.

40ish year old - acts like a kid and keeps separating from his buddy and the group (and too deep) and I have to herd him back several times.

So it really depends on the child.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

In fact now that I think about it, a study on telomere length and being in outer space concluded that it made them longer, thus making the person "younger".

I wonder if pressurization would have the same effect? I assume it would.

Edit: Yup

Telomere elongation followed by telomere length reduction, in leukocytes from divers exposed to intense oxidative stress – Implications for tissue and organismal aging - ScienceDirect

 

[Compressor]

My daughter got certified at 10. She was mature minded and a responsible child. No issues with her diving. Does she like it? She says yes but I think she likes to watch YouTube videos more if you know what I mean.

She is 14 now. Until she is an adult, she will be strictly supervised when diving.