Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Study: Teen Athletes May Not Report Concussion Symptoms

Despite knowing the risk of serious injury from playing football with a concussion, half of high school football players would continue to play if they had a headache stemming from an injury sustained on the field.

In a new study, physicians from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center also report that approximately half of athletes wouldn't report concussion symptoms to a coach.

"We aren't yet at the point where we can make specific policy recommendations for sports teams, but this study raises concerns that young athletes may not report symptoms of concussions," says Brit Anderson, MD, an emergency medicine fellow at Cincinnati Children's and the study's lead author. "Other approaches, such as an increased use of sideline screening by coaches or athletic trainers, might be needed to identify injured athletes."

Of athletes surveyed, the vast majority recognized headaches, dizziness, difficulty with memory, difficulty concentrating, and sensitivity to light and sound as concussion symptoms. More than 90 percent recognized the risk of serious injury if they returned to play too quickly.

Despite these high levels of awareness, 53 percent responded that they would "always or sometimes continue to play with a headache sustained from an injury," and only 54 percent indicated they would "always or sometimes report symptoms of a concussion to their coach."

"Further study on concussion education in adolescent athletes and on ways to identify high school athletes who have sustained a concussion would be useful," says Dr. Anderson.

Source: Science Codex
http://www.sciencecodex.com/study_raises_concerns_that_teen_athletes_continue_to_play_with_concussion_symptoms-111652

Exercise Has Positive Effect on Teens' Self-Esteem, Mental Health

A study published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science finds that exercise has positive effects that go far beyond physical changes in teens, as it does with people of all ages.

The study, based on a survey of 7,000 Dutch students, found that teens who participated in team sports had higher self-esteem and a more positive self-image than those who didn't. Additionally, these students were less likely to engage in negative behaviors, including "social withdrawal and anxiety, getting into trouble, aggressive behavior with others," according to Alan Kazdin, the editor of Clinical Psychological Science. Teens who participated in team sports were also found to have more friends.

Source: Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/article/study-shows-exercise-has-positive-effect-on-teens-self-esteem-mental-health

More Kids Practicing Yoga

Yoga: It's said to be the fastest-growing sport in America, with 20 million people practicing. But the latest trend among yogis is that an increasing number of practitioners are pint sized.

Kids – from newborns to teenagers – are learning the terms down dog, sun salutation and more in kids-only yoga studios and even in their classrooms. It's also one of the only non-competitive sports available.

"More practitioners and more parents are becoming aware of the benefits of yoga and seeing their kids can benefit too," said Liz Eustace, CEO of Alignyo, an online yoga community with a newsletter devoted to all things yoga. "The things that benefit an adult will also benefit a child. Stress reduction, mind- body connection, physical strength – these are things that benefit kids as well as adults."

"[Kids and adult classes are] very different, but the foundation is always the same. There's still the mind-body connection that is the foundation of all yoga," said Eustace. "But what's great is there's a ton of creativity with kids yoga, like meowing like a cat, barking in downward dog or hissing like a cobra. There's an incredible amount of creativity and playfulness within the foundation of yoga. And it's these kids moving in such a creative and conscious way that makes it such a fun practice for children to get involved with."

Experts say parents should do their research before signing their kids up for a yoga program. A good place to start is the Yoga Alliance web site, where parents can search for a instructor that's been trained in children's yoga. The voluntary standards put forth by Yoga Alliance require 95 hours of training to become registered.

Source: ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/kids-yoga-grows-popularity/story?id=18102032

Second Concussions Can Be Devastating

A new case study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics finds that a rare "second-impact syndrome" (or SIS) can occur when an athlete suffers a jolt to the head too soon after an earlier concussion - even if a CT scan taken after the first concussion comes back clean.

Experts say that if the brain doesn’t have enough time to recover from the initial concussion, a second one can have a devastating, often fatal, effect  -- even when the second jolt is no more than a light bump.

The second hit causes the brain to swell catastrophically, but it’s the first injury, experts say, that makes the player a walking time bomb.

“The thing that pushed us to publish this case report was the imaging we had,” says Dr. Michael Turner a neurosurgeon at Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, a center at the Indiana School of Medicine.

“The most important thing here is that a normal CT scan does not clear you for contact," added Turner, who worked on the study. He hopes the paper will draw the public’s attention once again to the dangers of returning to play too soon.

Experts estimate that more than a million and a half boys play football in U.S. secondary schools and three million play in organized youth leagues each year. Many players get concussions, but nobody knows the true number because players often dismiss head injuries as "dings" and "bell-ringers."

Second-impact syndrome appears to be relatively rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention documented 17 deaths from the condition between 1992 and 1995 in a report that cautioned that those figures could be an underestimate. 

Although SIS is rare, it is always devastating. Victims who don’t die are left with life-altering brain injuries.

Source: NBC News
http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/01/16270550-second-concussion-can-be-devastating-even-after-clear-ct-scan-study-finds?lite

Teens Try Multiple Means for Muscles

When it comes to body image, large, lean and muscular is in, and it's "extremely common" for teenagers to turn to diet, exercise, protein powders or steroids in hopes of bulking up and enhancing muscle development, a study finds.

Although these techniques are most often seen among boys, in some cases they are nearly as widespread among girls, says the study published in the journal Pediatrics.

Asked about methods they have used to increase their muscle size or tone, 2,793 middle school and high school students (average age 14) in Minneapolis/St. Paul said they:

• Changed eating: 68% boys; 62% of girls

• Exercised more: 91% boys; 81% of girls

• Used protein powders or shakes: 35% boys; 21% girls

• Used steroids: 6% boys; 5% girls

• Used other muscle-enhancing substances such as creatine, amino acids, hydroxyl methylbutyrate (HMB), DHEA, or growth hormones: 11% boys; 6% girls

Researchers did not collect data indicating whether eating changes were healthy or unhealthy nor how much or what type of exercise was adopted. Almost 12% of boys and 6% of girls, however, reported using three or more of the general muscle-enhancing behaviors, "indicating a relatively high level of use," says the report.

The findings suggest that "increasing muscle strength or mass or tone is an important piece of body image for both boys and girls," says lead study author Marla Eisenberg, professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. "Kids really are seeing that as a goal."

Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/19/muscle-building-techniques-teens/1708973/

Lack of Sleep Linked to Sports Injuries in Teens

According to new research, one good way for teen athletes to avoid getting injured is to ensure they get plenty of sleep.

In a study presented at a conference for pediatricians, researchers reported that adolescent athletes who slept eight or more hours every night were 68 percent less likely to be injured than those who slept less.

Researchers from Children's Hospital Los Angeles enlisted 112 students athletes (54 were male, 58 were female) to complete a survey about their sleep and activity levels. Findings showed that hours of sleep per night were "significantly associated" with a decreased likelihood of injury, according to the study results.

In addition, the higher the grade level of the athlete (the study looked at students in grades 7 to 12, or ages 12-18), the greater the likelihood of injury -- 2.3 times greater for each additional grade in school. Interestingly, the researchers didn't find any significant association between injury and gender, hours of training, private coaching, or strength training.

"When we started this study, we thought the amount of sports played, year-round play, and increased specialization in sports would be much more important for injury risk," said study author Dr. Matthew Milewski. Instead, "what we found is that the two most important [FACTORS] were hours of sleep and grade in school."

Source: New York Daily News
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-10-22/news/34660165_1_sports-injuries-study-results-researchers

Active Video Games Have Exercise-Like Effects in Kids

Adolescents who play active video games increase their heart rate, use more oxygen and expend more energy, according to a small new study.

Low levels of physical activity are associated with obesity in children. Compared to video games that youngsters can play while sitting on the couch, active video games encourage movement and could help children increase their physical activity levels, according to researchers Stephen Smallwood and colleagues at the University of Chester, in England.

The games, "Dance Central" and "Kinect Sports: Boxing," increased the children's energy expenditure by 150 percent and 263 percent, respectively, above resting values. Energy expenditure while playing the active games was 103 percent and 194 percent higher, respectively, than playing traditional video games.

The active games also led to significant increases in heart rate and oxygen uptake, in the study published online Sept. 24 in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/09/24/active-video-games-have-exercise-like-effects-in-kids-study

Teen Who Play on Multiple Sport Teams Less Likely to Become Obese

Teens who play on more than one sports team during the year are far less likely to become overweight or obese, a new study suggests.

In fact, Dartmouth College researchers concluded that the obesity rate among high schoolers could be cut by more than 26 percent if all teens signed up for multiple team sports, according to the study, published today in the journal Pediatrics.

The researchers also found that kids who bike or walk to school are less likely to become obese. If every kid in the country biked or walked to school at least four days a week, then obesity could be cut by 22 percent, they reported.

“I know that coordinating schedules can be difficult in terms of getting kids to practices and games,” said study co-author Keith Drake, a post doctoral research fellow at the Hood Center for Children and Families at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “But it does look to us like getting kids involved in sports may be the best chance we have to get them physically active and to help them maintain a healthy body weight.”

Playing on a single team didn’t appear to have a strong effect. Still, Drake said: “Playing on one team is probably better than playing on none.”

Almost three-quarters of the teens who were studied reported playing on sports teams: 17 percent played on one team, 19 percent on two teams and 33 percent on three or more teams.

When the researchers accounted for factors such as weight at the beginning of the study, diet, gender and race, they found that the kids were much less likely to become overweight or obese if they played on two or more teams during the year.

Source: NBCNews.com
http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/16/12729070-one-sport-is-not-enough-to-cut-teen-obesity-rates-researchers-find?lite

Vitamin D Intake May Reduce Fracture Risk in Girls

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, has published an article showing that vitamin D intake can lower stress fracture risk in girls, especially in regards to injuries caused by high impact style activities.

Stress fractures are a common injury, often related to sports or physical activity. Essentially, the damage occurs when the bone is not able to withstand the pressure and force it is put under. They can also develop over time from repeated impact that might not initially cause any noticeable injury, but after multiple stress episodes become something of a problem to the bone structure.

Vitamin D appears to have been particularly important in maintaining healthy bones, able to withstand high impact events, particularly in those girls involved in an hour or more per day of high stress activity.

The authors of the study noted, "there was no evidence that calcium and dairy intakes were protective against developing a stress fracture or that soda intake was predictive of an increased risk of stress fracture or confounded the association between dairy, calcium or vitamin D intakes and fracture risk."

The authors conclude that their findings support the Institute of Medicine's recent increase in the recommended dietary allowance for vitamin D for adolescents from 400 IU/d to 600 IU/d.

Source: Medical News Today
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/242565.php

Lots of Exercise May Boost Kids' Grades

A Dutch review of prior research reveals that the more physically active school-aged children are, the better they fare in the classroom.

"We found strong evidence of a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance," the researchers, led by Amika Singh of the Vrije Universiteit University Medical Center at the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, said in a journal news release.

"The findings of one high-quality intervention study and one high-quality observational study suggest that being more physically active is positively related to improved academic performance in children," the authors noted.

Fourteen studies were analyzed; they ranged in size from about 50 participants to as many as 12,000 and involved children between the ages of 6 and 18.

The investigators noted that increases in blood and oxygen flow to the brain that accompanies exercise may play a role in improving classroom performance. The suggestion is that the dynamic prompts an increase in levels of hormones responsible for curtailing stress and boosting mood, while at the same time prompting the establishment of new nerve cells and synapse flexibility.

The findings are published in the January issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Source: USA Today
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/story/2012-01-03/Lots-of-exercise-may-boost-kids-grades/52354464/1