Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

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

Today's Teens Will Die Younger of Heart Disease

A new study that takes a complete snapshot of adolescent cardiovascular health in the United States reveals a dismal picture of teens likely to die of heart disease at a younger age than adults do today, reports Northwestern Medicine research.

“We are all born with ideal cardiovascular health, but right now we are looking at the loss of that health in youth,” said Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, chair and associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “Their future is bleak.”

The effect of this worsening teen health is already being seen in young adults. For the first time, there is an increase in cardiovascular mortality rates in younger adults ages 35 to 44, particularly women, Lloyd-Jones said.

The alarming health profiles of 5,547 children and adolescents, ages 12 to 19, reveal many have high blood sugar levels, are obese or overweight, have a lousy diet, don’t get enough physical activity and even smoke, the new study reports. These youth are a representative sample of 33.1 million U.S. children and adolescents from the 2003 to 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

“What was most alarming about the findings of this study is that zero children or adolescents surveyed met the criteria for ideal cardiovascular health,” said Christina Shay, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. “These data indicate ideal cardiovascular health is being lost as early as, if not earlier than the teenage years.”

Source: Health Canal
http://www.healthcanal.com/blood-heart-circulation/23480-Todays-Teens-Will-Die-Younger-Heart-Disease.html

Early Bedtime, Early Rising Keeps Teens Fit

A new study suggests that going to bed early and rising early could be a principal factor in combating obesity and enhancing overall fitness for teens.

Researchers from the University of South Australia gauged the time of going to sleep and waking times of almost more than 2000 individuals in the age-group 9 to 16 years and compared their activity during leisure hours and their weight. As per the results, even if the teens slept for the same amount of time, youngsters who went to bed early and woke up early seemed to be trimmer and fitter than their nocturnal counterparts.

“We found that kids who went to bed late and got up late were 1.5 times more likely to become obese and 2.9 times more likely to be physically inactive. The night owls more often spent their free time playing computer or video games, watching TV or engaged in other sedentary or screen-based activities.While scientists have already made the connection between less sleep and poor health outcomes around obesity and fitness, what is interesting and new here is that the timing of sleep may be an important factor in predicting health in young people,” elaborated Dr. Carol Maher.

The analysts found that young people who regularly went to bed early, apparently woke up earlier than their peers who slept late. They also seemed to be exposed to 27 minutes more physical exertion every day. On the other hand, their owl peers appeared to spend an extra 48 minutes online or other indoor activities than the aforesaid group.

Source: Health Jockey
http://www.healthjockey.com/2011/10/03/early-bedtime-early-rising-keeps-teens-fit-says-study/#

Doctors' Groups Say Teens Shouldn't Box

Teens and boxing are a bad combination, doctors say.

The risk of brain and other injuries during boxing makes the sport too risky, according to a new policy statement by U.S. and Canadian pediatrician groups.

The statement urges doctors to ''vigorously oppose boxing for any child or adolescent.''

"Children and adolescents should not be participating in boxing because of the risk of head and facial injuries," says statement co-author Laura Purcell, MD. Purcell is a pediatric sports medicine doctor for the Canadian Paediatric Society.

Children's brains are more vulnerable to concussion, the doctors say. Recovery takes longer in kids. There may also be long-term consequences. "We don't know what the long-term effects are, particularly with amateur boxing," Purcell tells WebMD.

The statement from the Canadian Paediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics is published in Pediatrics. It updates a statement from 1997 issued by the U.S. doctors. This is the first time the Canadian group has addressed boxing, Purcell says.

Source: WebMD
http://teens.webmd.com/news/20110826/doctors-groups-say-teens-shouldnt-box

Heat Illness Strikes Male, Teen Athletes Harder

Researchers have found that males and teens are most likely to require a trip to the emergency department for a heat illness related to sports or another recreational activity.

From 2001 to 2009, males accounted for nearly three-quarters (72.5%) of emergency department visits for heat illness following such physical activity, according to Ellen Yard, PhD, an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the CDC, and colleagues.

Those most affected were 15- to 19-year-olds, who accounted for 35.6% of visits, the researchers reported in the July 29 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

"These findings highlight the need for effective heat illness prevention messages to target all persons who are physically active, including those who participate in unstructured sports and recreational activities," they wrote.

"Specific emphasis should be placed on targeting appropriate prevention messages toward those ages 15 to 19 years, who are at greatest risk, and their coaches and parents."

Although heat illness has been shown to be a leading cause of death and disability among athletes at the high school and college level, the burden of heat illness related to participation in unstructured sports or recreational activities in other age groups is not known, according to the researchers.

Source: MedPage Today
http://www.medpagetoday.com/EmergencyMedicine/EmergencyMedicine/27784

Only 12% of High School Students Get Enough Exercise

Two new reports provide a snapshot of the physical activity and beverage habits of U.S. high school students. About one in 10 high school students gets the recommended amount of aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise, and nearly a quarter of students drink at least one sugary soda every day.

Both reports, which appear in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, analyzed data from the 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study that looks at the height/weight, diet, and exercise habits of high school students.

In the physical activity study, 12.2% of high school students met the Healthy People 2020 objective for aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity, which calls for 60 or more minutes of aerobic activity every day and some muscle strengthening on three or more days per week. Healthy People 2020 sets 10-year national goals for improving the health of Americans.

More high schoolers met the muscle-strengthening objective than the aerobic activity objective, the study showed.  Specifically, 15.3% of high school students met the aerobic activity objective.  Healthy People 2020 aims for this number to reach 20.2%.

In the beverage study, 72.4% of high school students reported drinking at least one serving of water each day in the week before the survey, 42% had one or more glasses of milk, and 30.2% drank at least one serving of 100% fruit juice every day.

But 24.3% drank at least one serving of regular soda each day, 16.1% drank a sports drink each day, and just shy of 17% had another sugar-sweetened beverage, such as lemonade, sweetened tea, coffee drinks, or flavored milk every day, the study showed.

But “sugar-sweetened beverages are a staple for a quarter, and potentially more, of the teens surveyed,” says Connie Diekman, RD, the director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis. “This intake could be contributing too many empty calories, displacing other more important nutrients found in beverages like milk, and it could represent the beginning of a food habit that will continue into adulthood.”

Source: WebMD
http://teens.webmd.com/news/20110616/only-12-percent-high-school-students-get-enough-exercise

Young Athletes Use Fewer Drugs, but More Alcohol

Teens who exercise and play team sports are less likely to be smokers or use marijuana and other drugs, according to a new study. However, the results also showed that high school students on athletic teams drank more alcohol than their peers.

While the findings don't prove cause and effect, they could have important implications for preventing drug and alcohol abuse in young adults, the authors write in the journal Addiction.

The researchers used data from a study sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that followed high school seniors through young adulthood with regular surveys. Those surveys asked about recent use of alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs, as well as participation in athletics and general exercise.

Students who participated in team sports or general exercise more often were less likely to use cigarettes, marijuana, and other illicit drugs as seniors. And those that upped their physical activity over the next few years also reported smoking and using drugs less often as time went on.

Being involved in team sports meant teens were more likely to drink frequently -- but that didn't extend to people who exercised, though not as part of a team.

About 45 percent of non-exercisers said they had drunk alcohol in the last month, which rose to 57 percent in those who regularly played a team sport.

Source: Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/30/us-young-athletes-alcohol-idUSTRE74T3WA20110530

Youth Football Injuries on the Rise, Study Finds

New data shows that youth football injuries are on the rise.

The annual number of football injuries among players aged 6 to 17 who were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments rose 27 percent over 18 years, from 274,094 in 1990 to 346,772 in 2007, the report finds.

During the study period, there were an estimated 5.25 million football-related injuries among youngsters in this age group, according to the researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

"We found that nearly 2,000 pediatric and adolescent football-related injuries were treated every day in emergency departments during football season," study co-author Lara McKenzie, a principal investigator at Nationwide's Center for Injury Research and Policy, said in a hospital news release. "We need to do a better job of preventing football-related injuries among our young athletes."

The most common types of injuries were sprains and strains (31 percent), fractures and dislocations (28 percent), and soft tissue injuries (24 percent). The researchers also found that there were 8,631 football-related concussions per year.

Players aged 12 to 17 accounted for the majority of injuries (78 percent), and were more likely than younger players to sustain a concussion or be injured at school. Children aged 6 to 11 were more likely to sustain lacerations and were often injured at home.

The study was published in a recent issue of the journal Clinical Pediatrics.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/fitness/articles/2011/04/13/youth-football-injuries-on-the-rise-study-finds

Multiple Concussions Raise Teen Athletes' Health Risks

High school athletes who have suffered two or more concussions may already have early symptoms of 'post-concussion syndrome,' according to a new study.

Not surprisingly, rates of concussion-related symptoms were higher among athletes with previous concussions, but the finding was particularly true for those with two or more concussions.

When the investigators adjusted for other factors, they found that compared with athletes with either no concussion history or one previous concussion, athletes with two or more previous concussions were more likely to have a cluster of the following three types of symptoms:

• Intellectual symptoms, also called cognitive symptoms, such as memory problems or feeling "mentally foggy."
• Physical symptoms, including headaches and problems with balance or feeling dizzy.
• Sleep symptoms, which could mean sleeping either more or less than they normally would.

Among all three groups of athletes, no differences were noted in terms of emotional symptoms, such as irritability or sadness.

The study was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Neurosurgery.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2011/01/29/multiple-concussions-raise-teen-athletes-health-risks