Pendley 1

Logan Pendley
DeBock
Block 2
February 25, 2015
The Rise of Pediatric Injuries in Sports
Between 2000 and 2014, the numbers of injuries in children one to eighteen have
increased rapidly. A number of studies have proven this increase by sport, age, and type of injury.
More than half of all sport injuries are preventable. Many different factors contribute to these
injuries. The number of pediatric injuries in youth sports is increasing because the athletes are
unaware of the prevention techniques and there is more intense training and competition than in
the past.
A study in 2013 a study was done on a total of 522 volleyball players participating in the
High School Olympic Games in Brazil. They were interviewed on the injury that they had
acquired. The researchers gathered information such as anatomic site affected, mechanism and
moment of injury, and the athletes training data. A nineteen percent frequency of injuries was
found. According to Vanderlei, Higher age, weight, height, BMI and training duration values
were associated with the occurrence of injuries. The anatomical site with the most injuries was
the foot/ankle. Direct contact was the main cause of these injuries. During training was when
most of the injuries occurred.
Another study was done that focused on 39 sports injuries by age. According to research,
In 2010, 8.6 million children were treated for unintentional injuries in American emergency
departments as opposed to roughly 2.7 million in 2009 and almost 37 pediatric sport injuries are

Pendley 2
treated hourly in the United States (Schwebel). The study was done on children ages one to
eighteen and the objective was to see which sport had the most amount of injuries. They found
that the top five sports that obtained the most injuries were, in order, football, basketball,
lacrosse, baseball, and cheerleading (Schwebel). The researchers also found that there are both
biological and sociocultural factors that influence the risk of pediatric sports injuries.
Biologically, they found that changes in perception, cognition, and motor control, and
socioculturally they concluded that decisions must be made about which sport to engage in and
how much risk taking occurs while engaging in those activities (Schwebel). The study showed
that understanding this information allows perventionists to target specific age groups to inform
them on how to prevent injuries.
Possibly one of the most popular increasing injuries in children is ACL, or anterior
cruciate ligament, tears. The rise in this specific injury has increased dramatically in the past ten
years. This is due to children not taking prevention seriously and making contact in sports
extremely violent. A study done at The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia showed that between
2005-2015, the number of ACL tears per year went from nine to one hundred forty three and the
increase was evident among all age groups (Bankhead 2). According to research, The first four
years of the study showed that children ages five to twelve, accounted for fewer than 5% of all
knee procedures. By the last two years of the period, that age group accounted for 20% of the
operations (Bankhead 2). This hospital concluded that the reason for the increase in this specific
injury could have been increased diagnosis, more referrals, and more aggressive treatment, but
also the researchers thought that more intense competition and year round training as other
potential factors (Bankhead 3).

Pendley 3
The number of pediatric injuries in youth sports is increasing because the athletes are
unaware of the prevention techniques and there is more intense training and competition than in
the past. Certain studies have shown researchers which age group they need to target in order to
prevent these injuries. The rise of pediatric injuries can be decreased if athletes become more
aware of prevention and also do not train as hard as they have in the past.

Pendley 4
Works Cited
Bankhead, Charles. "AAP: Big Jump in Knee Injuries in Kids." AAP: Big Jump in Knee Injuries
in Kids. MedPage Today, 16 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
Schwebel, David C., and Brezausek, Carl M. "Child Development and Pediatric Sport and
Recreational Injuries by Age." National Athletic Trainers' Association, Inc., 1 Jan.2014
Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
Vanderlei, Franciele. Characteristics and Contributing Factors Related to Sports Injuries in
Young Volleyball Players 6.1 (2013): 1-16. Print.