A Parent's and Trainer's Guide for Children's Activity
You may recognize this scenario. The action on the playing field is suddenly halted. A young athlete is wincing in pain as trainer and coach run to her side. Your stomach drops. Is it your child? Finally, she hobbles off the field and into the locker room, escorted by her anxious parents and trainer.
The dramatic growth of participation in organized sports for kids brings with it an increased risk of injury. According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, children ages 5 to 14 account for nearly 40 percent of all sports-related injuries.
"At MedExpress, we routinely treat children with sports injuries, including bruises, sprains, and strains received on the playing field", explains Kevin Blankenship, M.D. specialized in Emergency Medicine. "We also treat children with more serious injuries such as lacerations, closed head injuries, facial injuries, torn ligaments, and extremity fractures. My children are active in local sports and sometimes kids get hurt playing sports. At MedExpress, we treat all these injuries, but we would rather see them prevented."
As parents, coaches, and trainers, are you aware of the steps you can take to prevent childhood sports injuries?
Research by the National SAFE KIDS Campaign shows that nearly 30 percent of kids participate in organized sports, and still more children participate in recreational activities such as bicycling and in-line skating. Children and teens are considered resilient in battling illness and injury. Ever hear someone say "Kids are made out of rubber"? So why are they more susceptible to sports injuries than adults?
Children are still growing and gaining motor and cognitive skills.
They are inexperienced and unable to assess the risks involved in sports and recreation.
Growing children have less coordination, slower reaction times and less accuracy than adults.
Physical activity is important to your child's health development. In a time when America's children are increasingly obese, no one wants to discourage involvement in organized sports and recreational activities. In fact, such activities are being prescribed. The problem is teaching our children their physical limits. Who is responsible for keeping children safe on the playing fields, playgrounds and swimming pools?
"Too often children and teens are left to make their own decisions regarding sports participation and training," says Dr. Blankenship. "Busy parents, coaches, and trainers can barely keep track of the car pool, let alone their children's training techniques and game knowledge."
Parents, coaches and trainers must remember that children tend to not assess the risks involved in sports and recreation. Most children don't think twice about conquering a huge snowdrift on their new snowboard, or fitting in three practices a day. Adults need to take responsibility and educate kids about the risks, and rewards, of physical activity. Young athletes require physical limits since bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments are still developing, as described in an article in American Medical News.
"Never expect children or teens to 'tough it out' after experiencing a sports injury," says Dr. Blankenship. He explains that it is common for adults to view children and teens as rather invincible. "The fact is children and teens are somewhat fragile . . . they are works in progress."
Kids pressured to compete and specialize in one sport, even from an early age, are pushing beyond these confines. Teen wunderkinds in gymnastics, figure skating and tennis are suffering debilitating injuries by the time they are in their late teens and early 20s, in some cases. The intense and long workouts are hard on growing bodies.
"Unfortunately, it is a common practice for parents and coaches to push children through rigorous training and year-round competition in order to see a youngster showing talent reach the top of the sport," notes Dr. Blankenship.
Parents, coaches and trainers need to routinely evaluate requirements for training and competition. They must recognize when children are reaching these physical limits and revise their programs accordingly.
Sports injuries are not restricted to playing fields and courts, however. According to an article on www.kidshealth.org, children under the age of 10 are more likely to be injured on playgrounds or sledding hills, whereas injuries due to organized sports or overexertion tend to occur more frequently in older children. Most of these injuries are categorized as acute, such as minor bruises, sprains and strains. There is always a risk of more severe injuries caused by a lack of supervision, improper equipment or overexertion.
With Spring here and blooming, your children are strapping on their in-line skates, stepping into the batting cages, or pedaling right into Summer. So, what can you do to help prevent sports injuries? The "Play It Safe" campaign, started by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America, the Canadian Orthopedic Association, and the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, offers some suggestions.
Encourage your children to:
Be in proper physical condition before they play a sport (a pre-participation physical, especially for older children, is important to screen for undiagnosed heart ailments and other limitations).
Know and follow the rules of the sport.
Wear appropriate protective gear-such as shin guards for soccer, a hard-shell helmet in baseball, a helmet and body padding for ice hockey, and properly fitting shoes, whatever the sport.
Always warm up before playing.
Avoid playing when tired or in pain.
Hydration and diet are also important injury prevention tools. Children and teens will usually grab sweet drinks or sodas or the hottest new sports drink. Energy boosting juices and sodas may give them that extra kick short-term, but do they really provide the nutrition your children need? Teaching children the benefits of water over sugary sports drinks and juices is vital. Kids need to drink eight ounces of fluid every 20 minutes, plus more after playing, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease (NIAMS). Water should be the first choice (juices and sports drinks follow).
The NIAMS also recommends that parents work to match their children to the sport, and not push him or her too hard into an activity that he or she may not like or be capable of doing. Sports and other recreational activities are important to social development and teach team skills to children. It is your responsibility as parents, coaches and trainers to build the foundation for healthy participation and development.
One last caveat for parents: Some children are not athletically inclined or competitive by nature. It is important not to push these children too hard to participate in team sports if they find it miserable. Spring and summer should be enjoyed by children, not endured. Encourage the reluctant athlete to exercise in activities that are more safe neighborhood play than sport, like tree climbing, dance, pick-up basketball, bike riding, swimming, running, kickball, or even gardening or berry-picking, whatever can get them from in front of the TV or computer and out into the sunshine and nature for a couple hours every day. Pushing children to participate in organized sports when they despise it can do harm to their self-esteem when they cannot meet what they perceive to be their parents' and coaches' expectations.
And most important of all, as parents, for the mental health of your children and other people's children, be good sports yourself on the sidelines: Encourage your child but do not berate him, his teammates or the other teams' players, or the coaches where the child can hear. This unfortunate attitude and behavior can do great harm to a young child's social development. Remember: children's sports are for children--for their enjoyment and social and physical development.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PREVENTING CHILDREN'S SPORTS INJURIES, PLEASE VISIT www.kidshealth.org or www.safekids.org . BELOW ARE SOME HELPFUL LINKS FOR GETTING INVOLVED IN PROMOTING SPORTS SAFELY IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
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