Keep Your Child off the Bench and on the Playing Field This Spring!

More than 30 million children in the U.S. participate in organized sports and each year more than 3.5 million sports-related injures requiring treatment occur in children under the age of 15. In fact, according to the CDC approximately 715,000 sports and recreation injuries occur each year in school settings alone. And, the emergency room at Childrens Mercy Hospital sees an unfortunate amount of these sports-related injuries that land kids in the hospital and keep them on the sidelines for the entire season. But, many of these visits to the emergency room could be avoided if parents were aware of the health risks associated with overuse injuries, poor hydration and using sports equipment incorrectly or unsupervised. Dr. Jim Kelly, MD, PEM, Assistant Section Chief, Division of Emergency Medical Services at Childrens Mercy Hospitals and Clinics wants to alert parents to the risks associated with kids and sports, such as: * Avoiding overuse injuries: when is your child involved in too many sports? Which kid-athletes need to rest between games to avoid injuring themselves? What pitching recommendations do you have for young athletes? * Age Limits: what sports or activities that younger children, who are risk because of immature or undeveloped coordination, skills, and perception should avoid? * Hydration and Nutrition: how much should children hydrate before certain activities? Are there foods that can help with reducing the risk of injuries (that can keep children more alert)? For more information on how to prevent sports-related injuries in children, please visit: http://childrensmercy.org http://childrensmercy.org