Sports Safety
Sports and physical exercise have both physical (fitness, coordination and weight maintenance) and emotional (self-esteem, self-discipline and confidence) benefits for children. However, participation in sports always carries the risk of injury and children’s sports are no exception. With over 20 million American youths participating in organized community sports, and millions more involved with interscholastic sports, the number of injuries occurring in organized sports in the United States has risen to 3 million annually. Approximately 770,000 of these injuries require a visit to a physician, and between 45,000 and 90,000 require hospitalization. Children are now competing in sports at younger ages, with reports of 6-year-old children running full marathons, 8-year-old children swimming 10 miles daily, and young gymnasts and tennis players spending hours working to perfect skills in hopes of becoming an Olympic champion or a professional athlete.Since children’s bodies are still growing, the potential for damage to bones, tendons, muscles and ligaments is greater than that for adults. Growing bones contain anatomic regions known as growth plates (regions of cartilage where bone growth is occurring) that are weaker than surrounding tissues and particularly susceptible to injury. Children who play contact sports are also at risk for trauma to the spinal cord and neck.
Attention to the following can help reduce the risk and severity of sports injuries:
Group children according to size/weight, rather than age
During early adolescence, the level of physical maturity and strength varies widely among athletes. Therefore, when participation is governed by age or grade level, it is very difficult to avoid physiologic mismatching, particularly when size and strength are important factors for performance. Try to group children according to weight, size and skill rather than chronological age, particularly for contact sports. Sometimes children that are small for their age attempt to perform beyond their capacity in order to keep up with larger and stronger peers, resulting in an increased risk of injury.
Coach’s consideration of players’ health and injury prevention
The coach plays a vital role in injury prevention. Coaches who advocate “playing with pain,” restricting fluids during hot weather or returning to play prior to proper rehabilitation after injury may increase the players’ risk of injury. The coach is responsible for creating an environment that emphasizes the needs of the athlete first, particularly with regard to improving skills and techniques; therefore, he must be knowledgeable in sport-specific training techniques. The coach should accommodate training restrictions that result from injury and insist that injuries be properly diagnosed and treated before the athlete is allowed to return to full activity. A coach should also inform athletes about the expected level of fitness that must be achieved before preseason practice begins to minimize stress injuries. Certified athletic trainers, present at many facilities, have experience in preventing and recognizing sports injuries.
Maintenance of fields and equipment
All sports equipment and playing fields should be safe and properly maintained. Over 200,000 injuries occur on playground equipment each year; check for unsecured or defective equipment.
Pre-season health screenings
A pre-season physical examination should be done prior to beginning a sport. Its goal is to identify underlying medical problems, prior injuries or risk factors for further injury prior to "clearing" an athlete. It also allows discussion of such topics as an athlete's goals, motivation, nutrition, weight control, and drug use.
Protective gear
Properly-sized, safety-tested, and well-fitting protective gear should be used when appropriate for a particular sport. The child needs to understand the correct use of protective gear.
Children’s preferences
A child should never be forced to play a sport he feels uncomfortable with, physically incapable of participating in, while injured or when sick.
Proper care
Medical care should always be sought when a child is injured or develops a persistent symptom that interferes with ability to play.
ImPACT Testing
We pick up where the helmet leaves off. Did you know 10% of all student athletes in contact sports suffer a concussion during their season? Child First Pediatrics helps parent’s children and coaches take the guesswork out of concussion management with imPACT. In preseason, at the time of a physical, each athlete is given a baseline test. Then a sideline evaluation can determine the effects of the concussion in a quick, efficient manner.
Detailed information can be found in this brochure or on the official ImPACT site.
At Child First Pediatrics, we are committed to helping prevent injuries by providing children with age- and sport-specific exercises to ensure good form and conditioning. Of course, if an injury has already occurred, we are proactive about providing referrals to appropriate practitioners.