} HEALTHY LIVING
Sports YOUTH
too much, too soon? by H. Cobb Alexander, MD
Fifty years ago, organized youth sports were largely limited to Little League baseball and perhaps Pee Wee football. Girls in sports? Yeah, you can go cheer for the boys…. or maybe do ballet or tap. Childrens’ play tended to be much less organized—pick-up games on an empty lot or even in the street were the norm. Go outside after school; find some buddies, and just play by simple rules. In the summer it was baseball, and in autumn, flag football reigned. Playing one sport year-round, particularly an organized sport, was unthinkable. Different seasons demanded different skill sets, leading to a more holistic physical development for growing bodies.
........................................................................................................... Beginning in the 1970’s and accelerating ever since, the trend among youth has been to start organized sports at increasing younger ages, and focus on one sport ever earlier. Sports opportunities for girls have thankfully expanded greatly, and there is now a plethora of options from which to choose. Travel sports now comprise a $7 billion industry, with families expecting to spend several thousand dollars a year on fees and travel expenses. Yet, for all the time and resources expended on youth sports, there are some troubling trends. According to a survey by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, in 2014 there were 26 million youth aged 9-14 playing team sports, down almost 4% from 2009, and an average of 10% fewer sports were being played. The physical cost of concentrating on just one sport yearround is also taking its toll. Dr. James Andrews, in his excellent book Any Given Monday, relates that almost 40 percent of ALL sports injuries seen in the Emergency Room are for children under the age of fourteen, and overuse is the cause of nearly half of all adolescent sports injuries. Many sports medicine experts are becoming increasingly alarmed at the negative effects of the trend to train children younger, harder, and more sport-specific. The problems range from being a strain on family finances—and time together—to the all-too-common scenario of a child being pushed at an early age to participate in one sport at the “elite” level—only to burn out in the early teen years and give up sports altogether. CDC statistics show that in the past 30 years, obesity rates doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents, with more than one third of people in these age groups classified as overweight or obese. Although poor dietary habits and video games have certainly contributed to this ominous trend, a lack of exercise is clearly a major factor as well. Even worse, 75-80 percent of obese adolescents will be obese as adults, increasing the risk of everything from heart disease to diabetes to the need for joint replacement. 8
Inside Medicine | februar y-march 2017
