Genetic testing for kiddie sports

[julie_m]

I saw a story on this just last night...google it and apparently it's a big issue. It blew me away. I already think kiddie sports are getting too crazy but this may take the cake.

I'll put up just a bit since it's long, and the link.

Born to Run? Little Ones Get Test for Sports Gene

BOULDER, Colo. — When Donna Campiglia learned recently that a genetic test might be able to determine which sports suit the talents of her 2 ½-year-old son, Noah, she instantly said, Where can I get it and how much does it cost?

“I could see how some people might think the test would pigeonhole your child into doing fewer sports or being exposed to fewer things, but I still think it’s good to match them with the right activity,” Ms. Campiglia, 36, said as she watched a toddler class at Boulder Indoor Soccer in which Noah struggled to take direction from the coach between juice and potty breaks.

“I think it would prevent a lot of parental frustration,” she said.

In health-conscious, sports-oriented Boulder, Atlas Sports Genetics is playing into the obsessions of parents by offering a $149 test that aims to predict a child’s natural athletic strengths. The process is simple. Swab inside the child’s cheek and along the gums to collect DNA and return it to a lab for analysis of ACTN3, one gene among more than 20,000 in the human genome.

The test’s goal is to determine whether a person would be best at speed and power sports like sprinting or football, or endurance sports like distance running, or a combination of the two. A 2003 study discovered the link between ACTN3 and those athletic abilities.

In this era of genetic testing, DNA is being analyzed to determine predispositions to disease, but experts raise serious questions about marketing it as a first step in finding a child’s sports niche, which some parents consider the road to a college scholarship or a career as a professional athlete.

“Peer pressure and curiosity would send people over the edge. What if my son could be a pro football player and I don’t know it?”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/sports/30genetics.html?em

 

[worst_shot_ever]

Foolishness, thy name is Donna Campiglia. What if the test determines little Noah is genetically predetermined to be a dweeb? Makes it easier to start teasing him early so he can get used to it, I Guess.

 

[julie_m]

Foolishness, thy name is Donna Campiglia. What if the test determines little Noah is genetically predetermined to be a dweeb? Makes it easier to start teasing him early so he can get used to it, I Guess.

Don't forget Lori Lacy and that gem at the end.

 

[ClairefromClare]

That is truly idiotic, but you have to imagine my sigh of relief when I saw what this thread was really about. From the title, I thought they were testing child athletes to be sure they were really boys or girls and weren't transgendered or something.

 

[MO_Hacker]

That is truly idiotic, but you have to imagine my sigh of relief when I saw what this thread was really about. From the title, I thought they were testing child athletes to be sure they were really boys or girls and weren't transgendered or something.

Now, Claire that would just be craziness.

 

[worst_shot_ever]

That is truly idiotic, but you have to imagine my sigh of relief when I saw what this thread was really about. From the title, I thought they were testing child athletes to be sure they were really boys or girls and weren't transgendered or something.

That's funny, since with children the girls are often the more physically advanced. "Hey, not fair, this is a boy's league. That transgendered girl has an unfair advantage!"

 

[ClairefromClare]

Now, Claire that would just be craziness.

And your point is???

 

[MO_Hacker]

I have no point, didn't even read the article past what julie posted. It is ridiculous to test for such things, as if we don't have enough psychotic parents out there.