Recent studies seem to affirm what we have long intuitively known: sports are good for children. OK, perhaps not football. But that aside, the benefits of participating in regular physical activity far outweigh the disadvantages. In this post we’ll take a look at some of those advantages as they play out in the realm of public health in America.
Youth that participate in sports starting at a young age have shown fewer chances of involving themselves with unhealthy behaviors such as drug abuse later in life. Part of this is likely due to the fact that rules and regulations prevent athletes from using narcotics and other drugs (Russian Olympians aside) lest risk a ban from the sport. This incentive to stay clean in order to stay on the field has resulted in improved physical health as well as academic performances among many youth participating in sports in America.
Sports participation also provides young and impressionable young citizens with a positive environment that fosters good values such as fair play, achievement, and competitiveness. Involvement in sports has been correlated with a lower likelihood of involvement in crime.
Because sports participation requires high amounts of physical energy, the health benefits of regular exercise typically show quickly in the body of participants, and young athletes face a far lower risk of obesity than those who are physically inactive. The strict diets insisted on by many teams also ensures that young athletes maintain healthy eating habits.
The Downside of Sport Participation
While the benefits of sports are manifold, youth sports participation comes with its own set of risks as well. The biggest is the risk of physical injury, which is especially common in sports such as football. Another possible downside of sports participation is that it can negatively impact productivity at work or in the classroom as young people struggle to juggle their sports with their jobs or their studies. Some studies show that sports participants have lower performance performance in class due to the amount of time they spend practicing.
Young participants should be careful to maintain a balance while participating in sports, as they run the risk of letting their passion for the game overwhelm other aspects of their lives.
What About Specific Sports?
Taking a look at a specific sport like hockey allows us to examine the relationship of sports and public health in America through a specific lens. Hockey involves a lot of physicality and players have been known to injure themselves while playing it. Players skate at high speeds while carrying sticks and fighting for pucks, and this brings with it the risk of serious injury. The practice of body checking is responsible for many injuries in hockey.
USA hockey has been keeping track of the newly registered hockey players since the 1999 season, and the data shows a growing number of people participating in the sport. Many young people are familiar with the rules and regulations that come with taking part in the game due to the rising popularity in the United States.
However, the youth hockey league has been accused of failure to protect players from risks such as concussion and fatigue. Reports have shown that most of the hockey officials knew about the hazards that come with the game but failed to educate the public about them. Some experts have suggested that younger players face more risk of sustaining these injuries. It is, therefore, the duty of parents and coaches to guide them on how to prevent them from happening. One of the reasons to do this is that younger hockey players have shown a longer recovery rate as compared to those in older ages.
Lastly, because their brains are not fully grown, there is, even more, need for the younger hockey players to be more careful. The officials of the game should also consider introducing reforms that protect younger players who love the game. These changes will protect the players thus increasing the health benefits and reducing the health hazards that come with playing the game.
Conclusion
In the above text, we can see that sports participation comes with both positives and negatives. Young athletes should weigh between the two and know which suits them best. If individual game adds certain health benefits to you, then you should not quit participating. You only need to make sure that you are more careful that it does not cause harm in your body.
In addition, the youth should not only focus on health benefits while participating in the sports. Many famous athletes make a living out of the sporting world, and you never know if you can be one.
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