Sep 20, 2022

Get The Facts on Youth Sports Injuries

In the U.S., about 30 million children and teens participate in some form of organized sports, and more than 3.5 million injuries each year, which cause some loss of time of participation, are experienced by the participants. Almost one-third of all injuries incurred in childhood are sports-related injuries. By far, the most common youth sports injuries are sprains and strains.

The following statistics are from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign and the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Injury Rates

• More than 3.5 million children ages 14 and younger get hurt annually playing sports or participating in recreational activities.
• Although death from a sports injury is rare, the leading cause of death from a sports-related injury is a brain injury.
• Sports and recreational activities contribute to approximately 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among American children.
• Almost 50 percent of head injuries sustained in sports or recreational activities occur during bicycling, skateboarding, or skating incidents.
• More than 775,000 children, ages 14 and younger, are treated in hospital emergency rooms for sports-related injuries each year. Most of the injuries occurred as a result of falls, being struck by an object, collisions, and overexertion during unorganized or informal sports activities.

Where and When:

• Playground, sports, and bicycle-related injuries occur most often among children between ages 5 and 14 years old.
• The highest rates of injury occur in sports that involve contact and collisions.
• More severe injuries occur during individual sports and recreational activities.
• Most organized sports-related injuries (62 percent) occur during practice.

To find out more information about youth sports injuries, visit Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.