Participating in sports is a great way to stay active and develop a multitude of skills from teamwork and discipline to self-respect.  However, playing safe is critical to not only staying in the game today, but also throughout life. While athletic participation is on the rise, so is the incidence of youth and childhood sports injuries. Most are aware of a sports injury when it occurs to a professional athlete, but few understand the life ramifications when a child gets a major athletic injury at an early age.  Lifelong and ongoing issues can ensue that may lead to a lack of physical activity and an increase in the chance for obesity and other health problems in adulthood.  

First, let’s take a look at the facts: more than 7 million high school students participate in athletics, resulting in an estimated 2 million injuries and 500,000 physician office visits.  An estimated 30 million children participate in sports resulting in 1.8 million emergency room visits for athletic injuries annually.

While certainly many of these injuries are traumatic, it has been estimated that close to half of these injuries are overuse in nature. The reasons for this trend have yet to be determined, but are likely attributable to the increase in children and youths specializing in specific sports and even positions – without allowing the usual rest gained during cross-training or an off-season.  These overuse injuries can often have long-term consequences well into adulthood, including tendinitis, arthritis and chronic pain.

It is not surprising that the sports with the most injuries are the contact sports: football, rugby, wrestling and hockey. However, sports like soccer and basketball are more commonly played – resulting in a large injury load as well. The majority of injuries are to the lower extremity: knee and ankle. The knee accounts for 30% of serious injuries and more than 50% of injuries resulting in surgery.⁴ These injuries, such as an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear, can result in significant cost to the individual as well as the health care system.

As you can see, if we can prevent kids from getting hurt or burned out during athletic participation then they are more likely to remain active throughout life and achieve the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. In addition, research has shown that kids who participate in sports are more likely to stay in school and receive better grades.  It is for this reason that the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and several other organizations, including the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, SAFE Kids USA and the National Athletic Trainers’ Association are launching the STOP Sports Injuries campaign. STOP, or Sports Trauma and Overuse Prevention is a campaign designed to educate coaches, parents, athletes and healthcare providers on the importance of sports injury prevention while keeping kids active and involved in sports and physical activity for a lifetime.  Do you want to learn more about this program and how you can get involved in your local communities? Visit http://www.sportsmed.org/stop  and help keep kids in the game…for life.

What else needs to be done to make sure that physical activity is safe for children and adolescents?

Introduction
While most fitness professionals enjoy spending time in the gym working out, often their clients do not share this same enthusiasm. Many times clients get bored or complacent when performing traditional strength and conditioning programs focused on conventional sets, reps, and steady-state activity. As a result individuals may become apathetic toward their training programs and exert less overall effort, thus reducing the physiological benefits. One way to help with this issue is by integrating competitive games into your client’s training sessions. By doing so, the primary emphasis of training shifts from simply trying to reach and maintain specific training intensities to competition and fun.

The following game is an example of a way to introduce variety into your client’s workouts.

Medicine Ball Tennis
This game is best played with 2-4 clients, but can be played one-on-one between a client and their trainer. The same basic rules of tennis apply to this game. This game can be played on a tennis court, or in a gym with a row of cones set up to simulate a net. The object is to throw the medicine ball back and forth over the net using a variety of overhead, underhand and side throws. The receiver must catch the ball before it bounces twice, and return it back over the net. If the medicine ball bounces twice before it is caught, a point is scored by the server. If the medicine ball does not bounce twice, play continues. In order to ensure safety the medicine ball must bounce once prior to being caught. Once the ball is caught the individual may take one-step, but no more, before return the ball over the net. The game is over when a set number of points are scored.

While this method offers a fun adjunct to training, the primary emphasis of a well founded health, fitness and performance program should focus on traditional and functional strength and conditioning methodologies. The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans that suggest muscle-strengthening activities that involve all major muscle groups performed on 2 or more days per week. Traditional and functional training, in conjunction with the integration of games, will yield the best overall fitness improvements.

For more examples and information on conditioning games visit conditioning games and conditioning for field hockey.  

What are some ways you integrate fun into training sessions?

As Congress wrestles with complex, contentious issues of health care reform, I’d like to propose a step anyone can take to improve health and likely cut health care costs. This isn’t a legislative bombshell—I’ll leave that for the politicians. And it isn’t a new idea, though research keeps adding to the body of supporting evidence. Let me help you make the case for physical activity.

It’s not about exercising for weight loss, though most people know there’s a connection. Simply put, I’m advocating physical activity for health. Exercise repeatedly has been shown to help prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, overweight and obesity, osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, hypertension, depression and anxiety, and even some forms of cancer. Surely, if there were a pill with all these benefits (along with some very pleasant side effects), everybody would ask to have it prescribed.

Truly, exercise IS medicine, and it’s readily available to everyone. Very little is required to get started: a pair of walking shoes, or maybe a jump-rope. Playing with your children is free of charge. (I highly recommend it, and I don’t even know your kids.) People of any physical condition can become more active and start feeling better. No prescription is needed, though more and more physicians are calling for specific doses of exercise for their patients.

On the job and active

Employers, squeezed ‘til it hurts by soaring costs, have found that it pays to encourage employees to be physically active. Published reports on workplace wellness programs show that cost savings for every dollar invested range from $2.90 (Prudential Insurance) to $5.96 (Bank of America). DuPont reported a 14-percent decline in absent days among blue-collar workers. Pacific Bell’s FitWorks program saved $2 million and $4.7 million in short-term disability costs in just one year.

Workplace wellness programs bring other benefits, too. Fit Swedish workers committed 27 percent fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, and a Canadian program found that 47 percent of employee wellness program participants felt more alert, had better rapport with co-workers, and generally enjoyed their work more.

Bottom line

Sure, it’s great to save those dollars—particularly nowadays—but the total benefits are incalculable. What price can you put on feeling better, living longer, or avoiding a debilitating illness? Think about ramping up your level of physical activity, and bring someone along with you. If you need help getting started, you’ll find plenty of resources on the Exercise is Medicine website.

It may take Congress a while yet to figure out health care reform. Meanwhile, I vote for healthy lifestyles as prevention. All in favor? Please share your organization’s perspectives on exercise as medicine.

What is your organization's perspective and involvement in the topic of exercise as prevention?