A Rise in Running-Related Injuries?

The amount of running-associated injuries suffered by American kids aged 6 to 18 elevated 34 % between 1994 and 2007, according to a new study.

Throughout that period, there were an estimated 225,344 such injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments, a average of more than 16,000 per year.

Nearly all of the working-associated injuries were sprains and strains to the lower extremities. Falls accounted for one-third of the injuries and greater than half of the injuries occurred at school, stated the researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Children aged 6 to 14 were more likely to be injured as a reult of a fall and while running at school, while teens aged 15 to 18 were more likely to be injured while running on the street or at a sports activities and recreation facility.

"Encouraging children and adolescents to run for exercise is a great way to ensure that they remain physically active," Lara McKenzie, principle investigator at the center, said in a hospital news release. "However, the findings from our study show that formal, evidence-based and age-specific guidelines are needed for pediatric runners so that parents, coaches and physical education teachers can teach children the proper way to run in order to reduce the risk of injury."