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Nutrition Tips For Sports Parents: Let Your Kid Be A Kid

  • At a young age, cleaning a child's plate should not be a requirement.  Kids have an amazing ability to listen to their hunger and fullness cues; in fact, much better than adults!  So making a child eat more than he or she wants can lead to unhealthy eating habits later in life.   
  • Kids don't dehydrate like adults, so don't encourage sports drinks at a young age.  They are not professional athletes with adult needs.   Stick with water.
  • Gaining weight will happen during puberty, so don't give your kids what they want all the time.

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UNICEF UK Names MomsTEAM Institute Pioneer Organization For U.S. Implementation of Int'l Safeguards for Children In Sport

 

 

 

 

MomsTEAM Institute, a leading 501(c)(3) youth sports safety advocacy, education and watchdog non-profit organization, has been named as a "pioneer organization" to implement the International Safeguards for Children in Sport in the US, in a global initiative coordinated by UNICEF UK.

Based on a set of child safeguarding standards drafted in 2012 by a working group of international youth, sport and development organizations, coordinated by UNICEF UK, with support from UNICEF, and based on the work of the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) of the United Kingdom's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty To Children (NSPCC), the Safeguards were formally launched at the Beyond Sport summit in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 2014.

Strict Rest After Concussion May Not Speed Recovery, New Study Finds

Strict physical and cognitive rest in the five days immediately after concussion does not help teens recover more quickly than taking it easy for one to two days after injury and then returning to school, finds a new study. (Thomas, 2015)  

The mainstay of concussion management for children and teens is both cognitive and physical rest after injury followed by a gradual, symptom-limited, return to activity. (Meehan, 2015).  As several medical groups (McCrory, 2013; Halstead, 2010; Giza 2013) have noted, however, the evidence on which the recommendation for rest is based is sparse, due, in part, to the difficult nature of quantifying and tracking levels of physical and, particularly, cognitive activity.

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Illinois Concussion Class Action Lawsuit: More Questions Than Answers

Bukal v. Illinois High School Ass'n, the much-publicized Illinois high school concussion lawsuit, appears to be the next step in Chicago attorney Joe Siprut's campaign to use class action settlements to implement changes to high school and college football concussion policies.

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Running On Empty (Or Not): Answers To FAQs About Pre-Game Nutrition

Question: What should I eat before I exercise or play sports?

Answer: This is a question athletes of all ages and abilities most commonly ask when I'm presenting a sports nutrition workshop. While most people expect a simple response, such as "Eat a banana" or "Have a slice of toast," the answer is actually complex and depends on many factors. After all, we are each an experiment of one.

Question: Does what you eat within 30 minutes of sports offer performance benefits?

ASTM Standard for Women's Lacrosse Helmet: Beginning of Debate About Whether Good For Game, Not End

While contact in girls' lacrosse is prohibited, concussions can and do occur. 

The two most recent studies of concussion rates among high school athletes (1,2) report concussion rates in girl's lacrosse essentially tied with girl's soccer for the highest among girl's sports, nearly as high as the concussion rate in boy's lacrosse (not statistically different in terms of rates), and almost double the rate of the girl's sport with the next highest concussion rate (basketball).  

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Overuse Injuries in Youth Sports: Half May Be Preventable

Repetitive stress on muscles and joints without adequate rest and appropriate conditioning can result in chronic or overuse injuries in athletes of any age. Experts believe that overuse injuries account for fifty percent of all youth sports injuries, but half may be preventable.

Children are especially vulnerable during the growth spurt at the beginning of adolescence.  The growth process can result in a unique set of injuries among young athletes, including Osgood Schlatter's disease and Sever's disease, Little League elbow, patellofemoral pain syndrome; and stress fractures caused by overuse and/or repetitive stress over time.

Here are five ways parents, coaches and athletes can help to reduce the number of repetitive stress injuries in children and adolescents.

1. Proper education and supervision.

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Abuse in Youth Sports Takes Many Different Forms

Federal law defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation to a child, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.

In the context of youth sports, child abuse can take many, and perhaps, to some, surprising forms:  

Emotional abuse

Is a verbal attack on a child's self esteem by a person in a position of power, authority, or trust such as a parent or coach, and occurs even if the attack is intended as a form of discipline or is not intended by the adult to cause harm

Can take many forms, including any of the following:

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Pre-Participation Physical Evaluations (PPEs): A Must For Every Athlete

Youth sports health and safety best practices include the recommendation that each athlete, regardless of age or level of competition, undergo a thorough exam by a licensed health care provider before participating in organized sports.  The pre-participation physical evaluation (PPE) is the primary means of identifying athletes at risk of sports injury and initiating preventative measures

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Cardiac Safety: Best Practices For Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death In Sports

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is an electrical malfunction of the heart, disrupting the heart muscle's normal rhythm, causing the heart muscle to twitch spasmodically. The heart then loses its ability to effectively pump blood. This activity is called ventricular fibrillation (VF).

Because the heart is not pumping blood, a person in VF usually has no detectable pulse. They suddenly collapse, become unresponsive, and stop breathing or breathe abnormally (gasping, labored breathing). Brief seizure-like activity is common in athletes with SCA. If untreated, this abrupt loss of heart function results in sudden cardiac death within minutes of onset.

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