Dr. Jocelyn Wittstein

Stress fractures in the spine.

I actually didn't have any of those things.

Ankle sprains, a minor disc herniation one time.

But, you know...

Nothing too crazy.

But yeah, so I think sports have benefits and disadvantages, risks.

And every sport has its risk.

You know, in soccer, it's ACL.

In baseball, it's, you know, shoulder and elbow.

In sports,

gymnastics, there are, you know, there's a variety of random things that can happen.

But sports also have major benefits for children.

Children who participate in weight-bearing sports like gymnastics and soccer, for instance, arrive at the age of 30 with greater bone density than those who don't.

You know, they have a better basis for lifelong fitness in terms of regularity and participating in things like strength training and cardiovascular exercise.

And especially for girls, I mean, Title IX was a huge shift in terms of increasing women in sports and, you know, more like lifelong athleticism for women.

So, you know, people always talk about risk of sports in young people, but overall there are so many benefits.

But each sport does have a certain risk profile.

And nowadays, children do specialize sooner in sport.

And there are issues with early sports specialization and, you know, overuse injuries and things like that.

But overarching theme like participating in physical fitness and impact and load-bearing activities and things that build muscle is very beneficial to people in their youth, you know, for their long-term musculoskeletal health.