Home | School | Community | Move  | Work | Contact Us

Safety Tips 

To help your child avoid sports injuries, follow these safety tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, and other sports and health organizations.

• Before your child starts a training program or enters a competition, take him or her to the doctor for a physical exam. The doctor can help assess any special injury risks your child may have.
• Make sure your child wears all the required safety gear every time he or she plays and practices. Know how the sports equipment should fit your child and how to use it. If you're not sure, ask the coach or a sporting goods expert for help. Set a good example–if you play a sport, wear your safety gear, too.
• Insist that your child warm up and stretch before playing, paying special attention to the muscles that will get the most use during play (for example, a pitcher should focus on warming up the shoulder and arm).
• Teach your child not to play through pain. If your child gets injured, see your doctor. Follow all the doctor's orders for recovery, and get the doctor's OK before your child returns to play.
• Make sure first aid is available at all games and practices.
• Talk to and watch your child's coach. Coaches should enforce all the rules of the game, encourage safe play, and understand the special injury risks that young players face.
• If you're not sure if it's safe for your child to perform a certain technique or move (such as heading a soccer ball or diving off the highest platform), ask your pediatrician and the coach about it.
• Above all, keep sports fun. Putting too much focus on winning can make your child push too hard and risk injury.

How do you know if your child is ready to play a sport? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you wait until your child is six years old to play team sports. Most children younger than that don't understand the concept of team play. With older children, you should decide if it's OK for them to play based on their physical and emotional development and their eagerness to play. Your child's doctor can help you make this decision. Remember, pushing children to play a sport before they're ready, or when they don't want to, can increase their risk of getting hurt.

Who Is Affected?

Close to 6 million high school students play team sports, and another 20 million children take part in recreational or competitive sports out of school. Sports activities help children and adolescents stay fit, learn about teamwork, and develop self-confidence. But playing a sport also brings the risk of injury. Each year, over 775,000 children under age 15 are treated in hospital emergency departments for sports-related injuries. About 80 percent of these injuries are from playing football, basketball, baseball, or soccer.

Most sports-related injuries in children–about two-thirds of them–are sprains (involving ligaments, which connect one bone to another) and strains (involving muscles). Only 5 percent of sports injuries involve broken bones. The majority of injuries are mild, but they can cause great inconveniences for both children and their parents during the healing process. And if not allowed to heal properly, a minor injury can become a more serious one that interferes with proper growth and causes life-long problems.

Safety Resources 

American Academy of Ophthalmology

EyeNET (www.aao.org) provides eye safety information for children, including how to prevent sports-related eye injuries. Call 415-561-8500.

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

Through the public information link on the AAOS home page (www.aaos.org), you can access fact sheets on injury prevention for many popular sports. Call 1-800-346-2267.

American Academy of Pediatrics

The AAP offers guidance on sports and your child (www.aap.org/family/sports.htm), including their policy on sports participation for preschool children (www.aap.org).  Call 847-228-5097.

Brain Injury Association

BIA's fact sheet about sports and concussion safety (www.biausa.org/Prevfacts.htm) provides data on brain injuries for several sports, including football, soccer, and baseball. Call toll-free, 1-800-444-6443.

National Athletic Trainers Association

On NATA's home page (www.nata.org), you'll find a link to injury information, including statistics and prevention tips. Call 214-637-6282.

On the NFHS home page (www.nfhs.org), you can find information about the benefits of high school activities, including sports. Call 816-464-5400

National SAFE KIDS Campaign

Visit the SAFE KIDS home page (www.safekids.org) to access fact sheets on sports and recreation injuries. Call 202-662-0660.

NYSSF (www.nyssf.org) has a variety of fact sheets on sports safety available for purchase. Call 617-277-1171.

References 

The data and safety tips in this fact sheet were obtained from the following sources:

American Academy of Ophthalmology. Eye safety for children. EyeNET web site. Available at (www.aao.org). Accessed July 7, 1999.

American Academy of Pediatrics. Fitness, activity, and sports participation in the preschool child. Pediatrics 1992;90(6):1002-1004.

American Academy of Pediatrics. Sports and your child. Available at www.aap.org/family/sports.htm. Accessed July 13, 1999.

American Academy of Pediatrics. Sports Medicine: Health care for young athletes. Elk Grove Village, IL: The Academy, 1991: 161-163.

Brain Injury Association. Sports and concussion safety. Available at www.biausa.org/Prevfacts.htm.  

FIMS/WHO Ad Hoc Committee on Sports and Children. Sports and children: Consensus statement on "organized sports for children." Sidelines 1998;8(1):1-2, 4. (Sidelines is a publication of the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation.)

National Federation of State High School Associations. The case for high school activities. Available at www.nfhs.org.  Accessed August 2, 1999.

National SAFE KIDS Campaign. Sports and recreational activity injury, December 1998. Available at www.safekids.org. Accessed July 30, 1999.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Reducing youth baseball injuries with protective equipment. Consumer Product Safety Review 1996;1(1):1-4.

Zetaruk M, Mitchell W. Gymnastics injuries. Sidelines 1998;7(2):1-2.