FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 2010 (HealthDay News) -- Sports participation among children and teens is a welcome trend, as it teaches teamwork and lays the groundwork for lifelong exercise, experts agree. Not so good, however, are the high rates of injury.
About 38 million kids and teens in the United States are in organized sports, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. And about one in 10 needs medical attention for a sports injury, according to Safe Kids USA, an advocacy group.
The organization has launched an educational initiative, supported by Johnson & Johnson, aimed at reducing the injuries by educating parents, kids and coaches.
"What we are really trying to draw attention to is, a lot of these injuries can hopefully be prevented," said Dr. Jamie Freishtat, a pediatrician, spokesperson and blogger for Safe Kids USA.
The wide range of injuries includes scrapes and bruises, sprains and strains, head injuries, heat-related injuries, and even death.
Some injuries are what doctors call acute -- a fracture or torn ligament are examples -- or caused by the gradual effects of muscle overuse. "The muscle just fatigues out," said Dr. John Hurley, an orthopedic surgeon at Summit Medical Group in Berkeley Heights, N.J., who is working with Safe Kids USA.
"These kids are specializing in sports when they are 7 or 8," he said, and the trend is not healthy. He is against a child playing the same sport for 12 months straight because it invites overuse injuries.
Parents can do much to reverse the injury statistics, Hurley and Freishtat agreed. Their tips:
The advice hits home for Wendy Ferrara of Mt. Arlington, N.J., whose son, Andrew, now 13, tore a ligament when pitching in a championship game last spring. "He had been experiencing some arm pain," she said, but he and his mother thought it was normal aches and pains.
During the big game, a fastball escalated the pain. "When I pitched that ball I heard a crack and a pop in my elbow," Andrew said. Soon after, an MRI showed a partial tear of an elbow ligament.
Hurley, who cared for him, gave him strict orders: No pitching for a year.
The year is up next May, and Andrew is abiding by doctor's orders. After 18 physical therapy sessions, his elbow is much better. But now, Andrew mixes it up. He's playing football this fall, leaving baseball for a time.
"I love to pitch," he said. But he's thinking long-term. So he'll wait it out, cross train, and pay much more attention to pain in the future, he said.
More information
To learn more about keeping kids injury-free, visit Safe Kids USA.