The question often pollutes my mind. Today, I am going to find out.
Children most often break their clavicle (collarbone). In fact, 5-10% of ALL pediatric fractures are collarbone-related, and about 40% of infant fractures are the collarbone.
The reason is that it is unusually fragile. The clavicle only needs about 7 pounds of force to break. That's the same amount of force you use to pick up a full gallon of milk!
It is also positioned in a very susceptible spot for impact, and is more pronounced than most of the other bones.
The most common way to fall off things like monkey bars and bikes is “FOOSH”, or “fall on an outstretched hand”. On impact, this can cause a lot of force to be transmitted through the arm, impacting the collarbone.
But if you’re an adult reading this, remember that being an adult and breaking your collarbone means you won’t heal half as fast. We kids still have some advantages mwahaha 😜