News
This is from Katherine Hobson’s column, On Fitness.
As kids start the fall sports seasons, parents of girls need to know about their specific risks.
There is a helpful link to the four most common sports injuries, a description of each and more about why they happen.
Informed parents and young female athletes can work to bring those risks down.
“Author and journalist Michael Sokolove sees a particular problem in the women’s sports arena, which he says faces an “epidemic” of injuries. (Here’s a list of common sports injuries in women.) In his recent book Warrior Girls, he explores the tension between telling our daughters that they can do anything the boys can do and recognizing the reality that girls may be particularly susceptible to crippling injuries.
“You talk to a lot of young women with multiple ruptures of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Is it really more prevalent in women?
There’s a lot of research on this, and it’s ongoing. But the way it’s usually said is that in the sports that girls and boys play in common and by the same rules—including soccer and basketball—girls are considered 5 to 8 times more likely to suffer an ACL injury. Just two times the rate of incidence would be significant!
“Doctors have a lot of different theories as to why. What’s the consensus?
In the midteens, boys get stronger and girls tend not to, at least not to the same degree. That’s unfair, but it’s a fact. And girls are more flexible compared with boys; they have lots of flexibility, but not enough muscle to keep their joints in stable, safe positions. That can lead to ankle, back, hip, and knee injuries. Or, in swimmers, shoulder injuries. Second, researchers say that girls tend to run in a more upright position than boys. They are more likely to decelerate with their knee locked and out in front of them, which can hurt the ACL. Ideally, everything is lined up; the feet and knees are under the hips, and the butt is down—it’s what the old gym teachers used to call the athletic position. Programs that attempt to change girls’ movement patterns so they run and land more safely have shown promise.
“You say girls have adopted a “warrior” ideal, where withstanding pain is a sign of strength.
I think we want our kids not to be soft, which is a good goal. At its best, sports really teaches that. My own daughter is a college swimmer, and she’s really, really tough; she’s not easily stopped by momentary disappointment. That came from her swimming. [As a society,] we are particularly eager for our daughters to be tough. But that sometimes goes too far. We have a culture of playing children to exhaustion and demanding more difficult athletic schedules.”
Source: US News and World Report, August 15, 2008