WHAT PARENTS 

NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 

BRAIN SAFETY 

AND YOUTH 

FOOTBALL
Football has the highest number of sports-related 

concussions and other traumatic brain injuries 

among youth.1

SOME PLAYS AND POSITIONS ON A FOOTBALL TEAM 

MAY PUT ATHLETES AT INCREASED RISK FOR CONCUSSIONS. 2

63% 63% of concussions 

in high school football 

result from tackling.

2
WHAT IS A 

CONCUSSION?

A concussion is a type of traumatic 

brain injury caused by a bump, blow, or 

jolt to the head, or by a hit to the body that 

causes the head and brain to move quickly 

back and forth. This fast movement can 

cause the brain to bounce around or 

twist in the skull, creating chemical 

changes and sometimes stretching 

and damaging brain cells. 

What is a repetitive head impact? 

A head impact is a bump, blow, or jolt to the head. 

A collision while playing sports is one way an 

athlete can get a head impact. When an 

athlete gets more than one head impact 

while playing a sport, it is called repetitive 

head impact exposure. 

Do repetitive head impacts pose 

a health risk to my athletes?

While we know head impacts put an 

athlete at risk for concussion, more 

research is needed to understand if 

experiencing repetitive head impacts is 

harmful and how they may or may not 

affect the brain of a young athlete.
WILL A HELMET 

PROTECT MY CHILD 

FROM A CONCUSSION? 

Helmets are not currently designed to 

prevent concussions. A properly fitted 

football helmet can help protect your 

child from the most serious types of 

brain or head injuries. Make sure your 

child wears a helmet that fits well 

and is in good condition.

PROPERLY FITTED HELMETS:

• Feel snug, leaving no spaces between 

the pads and the athlete’s head. 

• Won’t slide on the head with the 

chin strap in place. 

• Cannot be removed while the 

chin strap is in place. 

Learn more and download the helmet fit 

app at cdc.gov/HEADSUP.
15x

23x

HOW CAN 

I KEEP MY 

CHILD 

SAFE? 

Choose a non-contact or flag football program, especially 

for children ages 14 and younger. 

A CDC STUDY COMPARING YOUTH TACKLE AND FLAG FOOTBALL FOUND: 3

Tackle athletes had 15 times more head 

impacts during a practice or game.

Tackle athletes had 23 times more highmagnitude (hard) head impacts during 

a practice or game.
WAYS 

FOOTBALL 

PROGRAMS 

CAN PROMOTE 

SAFETY 

CHOOSE A FOOTBALL PROGRAM THAT HELPS PROTECT YOUR CHILD

Look for a program that limits contact during practices, 

and ask the league or coach: 

• How often do you do full-speed blocking or tackling drills?

• How much time to do you spend doing safe practice versus 

scrimmages and full-speed drills?

• Are certified athletic trainers available at games and practices? 

• How do you teach and enforce fair play, safety, 

and sportsmanship? 

• What is your protocol if you suspect a child sustains 

a concussion during a practice or game?

Talk to your child about the dangers of: 4

• Hitting another child in the head. 

• Using a helmet to collide with another child.

• Trying to injure or put another child at risk for injury.
1 Sarmiento K, Thomas KE, Daugherty J, et al. 

Emergency Department Visits for Sports- and 

Recreation-Related Traumatic Brain Injuries Among 

Children - United States, 2010-2016. MMWR Morb 

Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68:237-42.

2 Marar M, McIlvain NM, Fields SK, Comstock RD. 

Epidemiology of concussions among United States 

high school athletes in 20 sports. The American 

journal of sports medicine 2012;40:747-55.

3 Waltzman D, Sarmiento K, Devine O, et al. Head 

Impact Exposures Among Youth Tackle and Flag 

American Football Athletes. Sports Health. 2021; 

doi: 10.1177/1941738121992324.

4 Collins CL, Fields SK, Comstock RD. When the rules 

of the game are broken: what proportion of high 

school sports-related injuries are related to illegal 

activity? Injury prevention 2008;14:34-8
CDC.GOV/HEADSUP