About the research study

During the recent annual meeting by American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons held in Chicago from march 19 to 23, they released a report that indicated  that pediatric / activity injuries for years 2000 , 2005 and 2010 for children between 5 years and 14 years has decreased, despite the contradiction from hospital physicians. They focused on 8 sporting activities which were; basketball, football, roller sports (in-line rollers, skateboards, roller skates and scooters), playground games (monkey bars, swings and slides), bicycle, baseball / softball, soccer and trampolines.

Effects of sports on young

M.D Shital Parikh, from Cincinnati Children’s hospital said they ‘used data from the National Electronic Injury survey Surveillance system and data from the US census population estimates to examine the rates of injuries of the children between ages 5 to 14 for eight sports activities for the three years mentioned, 2000, 2005 and 2010.

The author said that for year 2005 there was a decline of 14.1 percent and I 2010 there was a 11.3 percentage decline. The report also said that ‘after controlling for the population of 5 to 14 year olds in the U.S, there was a decrease in the total injury incidences from 32.2 percent to 28.5 percent per 1000 from year 2000 to 2010.’

In 5 of the said 8 activities in the report, specific injuries as a result of engaging in sporting activities decreased. The sharp drop in the number of injuries was seen on sports such as roller sports, bicycles and trampolines. (20.8, 38.1 and 17.5) respectively. Apparently, ‘the increase in injuries as reported by physicians’, they say, ‘may be due to increased diagnosis, increased severity of injuries, increased number of injuries that have not healed properly and gotten secondary injuries again but not from increased number of acute injuries,’ Parikh wrote.

Another finding also says that US Consumer Product Safety commission statistics show that 3.5 million children and teens get hurt annually playing organized school sports or just normal activities that they engage in at home or in the playground. They also say that a third of those injuries are foot and ankle injuries.

Apart from sports personalities children are prone to injuries due to their levels of activity especially during the day. The nature of their bones that is still developing makes it possible for them to recover faster as compared to adults. It is difficult to predict or prevent some of these injuries especially those that occur as a result of undertaking a regular sport. Despite the nature and extent of injury it is always advisable to confirm with the physician the severity of the condition. It is also important to watch out the occurrence of over used injuries which are also common among kids.