¿Contribuye el judo al desarrollo motor infantil? Un análisis basado en evidencia científica

En el ámbito educativo y deportivo, una de las cuestiones clave es cómo potenciar el desarrollo motor en la infancia y adolescencia. El artículo “Does Judo Training Contribute to the Motor Development of Children and Adolescents? A Systematic Review” (Pacheco et al., 2023), publicado en Journal of Clinical Medicine, responde a esta pregunta mediante una revisión sistemática de 22 estudios publicados entre 2007 y 2023.

El análisis se centró en evaluar si la práctica sistemática del judo puede mejorar aspectos como la fuerza, resistencia, coordinación, equilibrio, postura corporal y habilidades motrices generales en niños y adolescentes. Los resultados fueron concluyentes: el judo contribuye significativamente al desarrollo motor de sus practicantes, mostrando mejoras no solo en capacidades físicas, sino también en habilidades sociales y cognitivas asociadas al deporte estructurado.

Entre los beneficios físicos más destacados se encuentran:

• Incremento de la fuerza muscular (especialmente en extremidades inferiores).
• Mejora del equilibrio estático y dinámico.
• Aumento de la flexibilidad y la coordinación motriz.
• Reducción de problemas posturales y mayor conciencia corporal.

La práctica del judo, además, mostró efectos similares o incluso superiores a otras disciplinas deportivas como la natación, el fútbol o el atletismo en parámetros de desarrollo motor. Esta conclusión posiciona al judo como una herramienta educativa integral y valiosa dentro de contextos escolares y extraescolares.

Los autores destacan la necesidad de seguir investigando con ensayos aleatorizados y muestras amplias, aunque los hallazgos actuales ya respaldan la integración del judo en programas de educación física y desarrollo infantil.

En conclusión, integrar el judo en edades tempranas no solo enseña valores como el respeto, la disciplina o la superación, sino que, además, constituye una excelente vía para mejorar el rendimiento motor, con beneficios físicos, sociales y emocionales.

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