By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY
Kids who play on ice hockey teams where body-checking is allowed are three times more likely to sustain a concussion and other severe injuries than those who play in non-checking leagues.
Canadian researchers who analyzed injuries in "Pee Wee" (ages 11 and 12) hockey league players published data in today's Journal of the American Medical Associationthat suggest youth hockey teams would be better off avoiding play that allows players to knock opponents off the ice or into the boards.
"The evidence is significant that there is an increased risk of injury and concussion of young ice hockey players in body-checking leagues," says Carolyn Emery, associate professor in the sport injury prevention research center at the University of Calgary in Alberta.
During the 2009-2010 ice hockey season, more than 339,000 children ages 6 to 17 played in the USA, says Dave Fischer, a spokesman for USA Hockey, the umbrella organization for youth and adult hockey leagues.
Fischer says "Squirt" leagues (children under 11) are not allowed to body-check, but Pee Wee leagues and up may allow it, though not all do. He says he does not have a breakdown of those numbers.
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In the study, University of Calgary researchers compared injuries between Alberta Pee Wee leagues, which allow for body-checking, and Quebec leagues, which don't. The researchers followed more than 2,100 players during one season.
When it came to overall injuries, Alberta Pee Wee players suffered 241 injuries compared with 91 injuries in the Quebec league, Emery says. When researchers examined the injuries, players in the checking leagues were more likely to suffer a concussion than players in the non-checking leagues, including severe concussions that would keep a player out for at least 10 days.
Christopher Giza, associate professor of pediatric neurology and neurosurgery at the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center, says there isn't much research on very young athletes and brain injury risk. "We don't understand the whole relationship yet, but the simple math is that if you continue to incur these mild injuries, there are health risks."
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends checking not be allowed in youth hockey for children 15 and under.
"Body-checking is a very controversial issue in the youth ice hockey community," Emery says. She says she hopes the new findings will guide those who oversee ice hockey leagues.
"Our organization places a priority on safety," USA Hockey's Fischer says. He adds that the group's safety committee will be taking a close look at the latest findings.
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