It's official: Teenage boys are clumsy, researchers say

Italian researchers say teenage boys who experience a growth spurt have an excuse for being clumsy: their brains struggle to cope with their new heights.

The team studied 88 boys aged 15, says the BBC, and found that those who grew slowly and steadily retained their co-ordination. Those growing quickly found it harder to keep control of their motor skills.

Dr Maria Cristina, of the University of Bologna, said her team had discovered that fast-growers walk clumsily for a while as the brain readjusts.

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She said: "Adolescents tend to show previous control of the body when growing up, but the motor control behaviour is organised on the body's dimensions.

"Following a growth spurt, the body needs time to adjust to changes to the periphery, during which time a teenager may walk awkwardly, while teenagers who grow steadily are able to handle growth modifications better and so maintain smoothness and regularity when walking."

Cristina's researchers selected two groups of the 88 boys: those who grew 3cm or more over the course of the three-month study and those who grew only 1cm or less.

They then studied the boys' gaits, balance, ability to walk smoothly and regularity of stride by making them walk back and forwards along a corridor.

The boys wore wireless sensors to study their movements and were asked to do mental arithmetic while walking in order to test the "relative cognitive demand of gait control".

So it's not "just the hormones", says The Sun. "Next time your teenaged lad drops his phone or smashes a plate, don't shout at him – it's not his fault," adds the newspaper.

The researchers say that other socio-emotional factors could also be at play, says the newspaper, so "that explains why they're clumsy AND grumpy".