For the past couple of weeks, our Pediatric Sports Conditions series has covered the rise in pediatric and adolescent sports injuries, their causes, and possible steps to prevent or reduce these injuries. This week I’d like to summarize the best goals and objectives for addressing increased injury rates in child athletes.

Top Tips for Preventing Injury in Young Athletes

  1. Increase awareness among athletes, parents, coaches, and pediatricians of the problem’s prevalence.
  2. Develop and institute a standardized pre-participation screening program.
  3. Emphasize the importance of, and encourage, higher general fitness levels.
  4. Increase parental awareness of the individuality of each athlete and the appropriate intensity levels for each kid.
  5. Encourage participation in at least two sports, and discourage sport specialization at too early an age.
  6. Improve knowledge of proper hydration and nutrition.
  7. Execute a pre-season training program using sound training principles that are safe and evidence-based.
  8. Implement proper warm-up and stretching before practices and games.
  9. Improve awareness of the appropriate progression of training.
  10. Require certification in CPR and First Aid within one year of all coaches’ involvement in organized sports.
  11. Require all coaches to complete a coaching certification program within five years of working with youth sports programs.

Making Life Better for Child Athletes

High injury rates in the pediatric population may result in pain and functional limitations affecting activities of daily living, missed practices and games, lost days of school, decreased interaction with peers, psychological stresses, and financial expenses to parents. These consequences can be minimized or avoided with the implementation of injury prevention programs. With proper education and techniques, we can limit the risks to children’s physical and psychological health while simultaneously optimizing the performance of the young athletes.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s sports involvement or teams they play on, reach out to your local SET Physical Therapy for more information. 

Note: The information in this series originally appeared in “Injuries in the Pediatric Athlete: Etiology and Strategies for Prevention,” which Chana Frommer co-authored.