Just How Safe Is Youth Football For Your Kid?
DENVER (CBS4) - Should I let my kid play little league football or is that not such a good idea? A tough question, especially as we ask how safe it is for grownups to play the game.
One of the biggest worries for parents and doctors is how a blow to the head is going to affect a young, developing brain. We know that younger brains are much more prone to damage from a hit than in a teen or adult. And add those collisions up, and you really have to wonder whether it is going to affect a child's ability to think, learn, and concentrate.
Now comes a new study that tries to literally get inside a pee-wee players head over the course of a season. It's a not a very big study—only 25 players—but it takes one of the most in-depth looks of any research to date.
It comes out of Wake Forest University and in it, researchers tried to see the effect of every single blow to the head over the course of a season, whether it be practices or games.
They performed special MRI exams on the 25 players (ages 7-13) before the start of the season. They then put sensors inside each of the players' helmets that measured each and every hit. Finally, the researchers re-scanned the brains at the end of the season.
The good news was that none of the 25 players suffered an obvious concussion at any time during the season, or for that matter complained of any symptoms.
The not-so-good news was what the MRI exams picked up after the season was over. The scans were 100 percent normal at the start, but by the end, the scans showed some subtle but definite changes in brain tissue and connections between brain cells.
So how important is this? The answer is no one knows. Maybe the changes don't mean a lot, and any damage will repair itself.
Then again, maybe not.
Further, add season after season of helmet crashing collisions and you've got to wonder about any long term effects to a young brain.
The point is that the study does not draw a direct conclusion. But it does show that the brain is affected by the very nature of the game—and that even smaller and slower bodies can still cause the brain to rattle inside of the skull.
Which brings us back to an original question: Would I let my kids play little league football? A tough one to answer since two of them went on to play high school and college football. But knowing what I know now, and the more science we have, I have to admit that the answer today would probably be no. But that's me. And we just don't know all that we need to make a solid, scientifically based across the board recommendation.
Dr. Dave Hnida is CBS4's Medical Editor. He blogs about the latest studies and trends in the health world. Read his latest blog entries, check out his bio or follow him on Twitter @drdavehnida
