Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 6, 1995 TAG: 9506070002
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jane Brody
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
While accidents can happen to anyone, even the most cautious and well-prepared, all too often safety issues are ignored by children, their parents and coaches. As a result, activities that should be fun, stimulating and health-promoting can readily become the opposite.
Distressed by the more than 775,000 hospital visits each year by children from 5 through 14 with sports injuries, orthopedic and sports medicine specialists have combined forces to promote safety measures for young athletes.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, the Canadian Orthopaedic Association and the American Academy of Sports Medicine have begun a Play It Safe campaign, with safety and exercise guidelines that should be adopted by every youthful participant, parent and coach.
Adults need to be reminded that children are not miniature adults.
Their bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments are still growing and are weaker than an adult's. Developing bodies are more vulnerable to injury. What may be just a bruise or sprain in an adult can be a serious injury in a child and result in impaired bone growth.
Children are more susceptible to the effects of heat and dehydration.
They are, by definition, mentally and emotionally immature. Under the stress of competition or facing pressure from parents and coaches, they often fail to heed warning signs like pain or fatigue. Many suffer overuse injuries because they do not know when to stop or they are afraid they will disappoint adults.
Youngsters often think of themselves as invulnerable and many shun wearing protective equipment. And lacking an adult's experience and judgment, they are more likely to ignore rules and take undue risks.
Children do not grow or develop at the same rate, but in organizing sports activities for children, parents and coaches typically group them by chronological age rather than by physical size and skill level. As a result, children who are smaller or less skilled are sometimes placed at a serious disadvantage, especially in contact sports.
When it comes to children's sports, parental responsibility goes beyond being a cheering squad for Little Leaguers. That responsibility includes assuring that children are physically prepared and properly equipped to participate safely, that coaches have appropriate qualifications and sensible attitudes, that equipment and facilities are well maintained and that children know and follow the rules of the game.
Parents should also inform coaches of any physical limitations or health problems a child may have, like asthma or diabetes, that might be affected by exercise.
Warm-up and stretch. Children's tendons, ligaments and muscles are even more vulnerable than an adult's to injuries from the stresses of physical activities. Every game and practice session, even a casual game of street hockey, should be preceded by warm-up exercises and stretches that reduce the risk of a sprain or strain.
Wear protective equipment. Each sport has its own paraphernalia. For baseball, that includes wearing a batting helmet when at bat, waiting to bat or running the bases, wearing molded, cleated baseball shoes (not steel spikes) and preferably using the new, softer baseballs.
The outfit for in-line skating should include wrist guards, hard-shell knee and elbow pads and a helmet. A bicycle helmet, which should always be worn when cycling, is fine protection for skaters.
Soccer players should wear shin guards and shoes with molded cleats or a ribbed sole (save screw-in cleats for wet fields with high grass). Goals should be well-padded and securely posted. On wet fields, synthetic nonabsorbent balls should be used.
Children who wear glasses should have a pair with shatterproof lenses and sturdy frames. Tennis players should wear protective sports glasses and swimmers should wear goggles.
Learn basic skills and proper techniques. These not only make sports participation safer, they also make it more enjoyable. A skater who does not know how to slow down and stop is an accident waiting to happen. Cyclists should know how to handle wet or sandy surfaces.
Participants in field sports should know how to adapt to wet or muddy surfaces. Children who become pitchers should avoid sidearm pitching - it can severely damage tissues in the elbow - and should be limited to throwing no more than 70 overhand pitches in a game and 40 pitches in a practice session. Tennis players, too, should learn proper strokes to reduce the risk of tennis elbow, a painful tendinitis.
Maintain a healthy attitude. The value of sports participation includes reaping the physical and emotional rewards of exercise, fostering coordination and cooperation and releasing the excess energy of childhood in a healthful and socially acceptable way.
Parents and coaches who emphasize winning at all costs place their children at serious emotional and physical risk, prompting some to continue playing when they are injured and causing mental anguish if they lose.
Dr. Michael J. Goldberg, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Tufts School of Medicine in Boston, says that parents and improperly trained coaches who insist that winning is what counts are practicing ``sports abuse,'' which he considers a form of child abuse.
No child should be told to work through or play through pain. Exercise-induced muscle soreness should disappear after two days; if any sports-related pain persists beyond that, the child should see a doctor.
Protect against environmental assaults. Children face a greater risk than adults do of suffering heat stroke and dehydration. Children and adults alike should drink lots of water during games and practices. It is best to start out well hydrated by drinking one or two eight-ounce glasses of water before starting the activity and half a glass every 20 to 30 minutes during exercise.
If there is no nearby fountain, provide the child with a quart-size water bottle (or two). For outdoor activities in the sun, sunscreens and a hat are a must. Sunglasses or tinted goggles are also helpful.
For a free copy of the ``Play It Safe'' brochure, send a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope to Play It Safe, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, P.O. Box 1998, Des Plaines, Ill., 60017, or call the academy at (800) 824-BONE (824-2663).
Jane Brody writes about health issues for The New York Times.
by CNB