sports and youth – Seite 6

sports and youth coaching growth maturation

Strength training in children and adolescents: science, effects and recommandations

During the last years, muscle strengthening exercises have been included as an essential part in youth physical activity guidelines of national and international health organisations. It is well-documented that strength training is effective in improving physical fitness and promoting health and psycho-social well-being. Therefore, the purpose of this review article is to present empirical evidence on the effectiveness of strength training in children and adolescents.

sports and youth sports injury

Management of youth athletic injuries in alpine skiing

The popularity of alpine skiing is growing among young athletes. However, this development also carries the risk of early health problems such as traumatic and overuse injuries. To support a long-term beneficial effect of an early sport specialization, the amount of appropriate volume and intensity of training need to be investigated. As a basis for a prospective and reliable data collection, we developed a training and injury database to repeatedly record the occurrence of traumatic injuries and overuse injuries. Study participants were 82 young talented alpine skiers aged between 9 and 14 years.

sports and youth sports science

Diving medicine in children and adolescents

The special feature in recreational scuba diving is the high ambient pressure under water. As a consequence, specific behavioral rules and special requirements exist for safe diving in children and adolescents, especially for the preparticipation examination done by the diving physician. In this overview article, we describe the physical basics of diving, the sport-specific characteristics of recreational scuba diving with a special focus on children and adolescents (Declaration of Eisenach). We describe the requirements for health and for the medical certification for scuba diving.

sports and youth growth maturation overuse

The growing spine – a bestseller

The growing spine is – particularly in performance oriented young athletes – prone to overload: under pubertal hormonal influence the 48 cartilaginous growth zones beneath the vertebral endplates are mechanical as fragil as never before during growth whereas on the other side the impacting forces are becoming higher due to the longer trunk lever arm, the often apparent relative muscular insufficiency, the increasing training hours and intensity as well as the willingness and pressure to perform. The subsequent biomechanical imbalance usually results in simple functional complaints but may also entail structural changes, for example (thoraco-) lumbar Scheuermann’s disease in sports with high axial impact such as alpine skiing oder gymnastics.

sports and youth growth overuse sports injury

Overview of overuse injuries

Ideally, the musculosceletal system and it’s components maintain a biologic balance during growth in order to compensate and/or adapt to intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Otherwise, the risk of acute or overuse injuries is increasing. The growth cartilage at the level of the growth plates or apophyses as well as the spine is highly vulnerable to overuse injuries, especially during the pubertal growth spurt. The diagnosis of an overuse injury is often delayed due to the undulant clinical manifestation and the treatment can be extensive and long-lasting, sometimes leading to an early cessation of sports activities.

exercise is medicine sports and youth education

Pediatric sports medicine – why we need it

Kinder sind von klein auf hoch motiviert, sich zu bewegen, freuen sich an neu gewonnenen motorischen Fertigkeiten und haben Spass an der Bewegung. Dabei geht es nicht um Sport, sondern einfach nur um die aktuelle Freude an der Aktivität an sich. Sport – also Bewegung um eines Zieles wegen – sollte später kommen. Das Eintrittsalter in den Wettkampfsport ist jedoch in den letzten Jahren gesunken, Leistungssport bei Grundschülern mit Trainingsumfängen von 10–20 Stunden pro Woche in Sportarten wie Schwimmen, Turnen, rhythmische Sportgymnastik oder Ähnliches hat es früher nicht gegeben.

exercise is medicine sports and youth sports injury knee ligament

Evidence for the management of anterior cruciate ligament rupture in children and adolescents

ACL injuries in children and adolescents have increased substantially in recent years. Nevertheless, treatment algorithms are domiated by predjudice more than by evidence, eventhough the scientific basis, summarized in this paper, is sound. The likelihood of an ACL tear in a traumatic hemarthros, even without contact, is 52%. More than half of the cases show concurrent injuries. Methods and criteria for success of conservative treatment are published in detail, however, surgical treatment produces a better clinical outcome in most cases. Various surgical techniques exist, and age appropriate treatment can elimate the risk of a growth disturbance and restore the normal function of the knee.

sports and youth preparticipation sports medicine cardiology team management

EKG and sports

There was a longstanding controversy on the role of resting ECG in the preparticipation examination in athletes, as well as in children and adolescent, in leisure time or top athletes. Besides other arguments, this was due to the limited validity, to the false positive and false negative findings often followed by a thorough clinical examination. However, recent studies from different research groups yielded a significant improvement in establishing ECG criteria in athletes discriminating normal from abnormal or pathological findings in athletes.This in addition is supported and improved by a software-based ECG device considering the new Seattle criteria. These new criteria from the Seattle conference reliably discriminate normal from abnormal findings. Frequent ECG findings in athletes, especially in those engaged in endurance sports showed sinus bradycardia, AV-block and signs of left ventricular hypertrophy.

exercise is medicine obesity PA promotion sports and youth

Analysis of exercise training for treating obesity in children and adolescents: a review of recent programs

Physical activity is recognized as a basic component of the management of the obese child, but it is not clear which kind of intervention is the most efficient. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of prescribed exercise training in obese children. We reviewed 19 studies, 10 RCT and 9 observational studies, published in the last 5 years. In the majority of these studies obese children were treated as ambulatory patient, in tertiary centers. Only 2 studies described a community based program. In half of the studies, drop-out was not reported and the rate of attendance was rarely described. On the other hand, the content of each session was well described, but exercise training intensity was below international recommendations.

Mental health sports and youth abuse growth sports nutrition

Sports, adolescence and eating disorders

Adolescence is triggered by puberty and corresponds to a time of great changes in many fields including biological, psychological, cognitive and social. Participation to a sport activity improves self-esteem, socialisation with peers and physical condition. Yet, it sometimes is associated with suffering, restrictive behaviours and eating disorders when performed at an intensive level. Intensive sport activity during adolescence should take into account young people’s developmental stages as well as their fundamental needs in order to promote a harmonious training. One way to promote such training is to train parents and medical health providers to recognise these specific developmental needs and take them into account.