Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Exercise - Fitness, Pediatrics / 05.03.2020
Is Youth Football Safe? An Analysis of Middle School Football Head Impact Data
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Robert F. Heary, M.D.
Co-Director, Reynolds Family Spine Laboratory
Director, Spine Center of New Jersey
Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Newark, New Jersey
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This article was written to assess the relative danger versus safety of youth football. As this is a hot-button topic in the world of neurosurgery and neurology, we decided to look into this issue.
In a suburban town, middle school football players were studied. They wore helmets with accelerometers mounted inside the hemet to measure how many hits the player absorbs and the magnitude of the force behind the hits. Also, soft “guardian caps” we worn over the outside of the helmets during practices.
For all football activities (practices and games), the helmets were worn and data were accumulated. In addition, specialized coaching related to safe tackling techniques was provided.
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