A high school football player in San Jose, Calif., died on Tuesday after a collision with another player. Joseph Barajas had suffered a concussion in another game only one month ago. Doctors have not linked the cause of death to the original injury. But parents are still questioning the safety of organized sports. This Morning gets some pointers from Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine specialist with New York's Hospital for Special Surgery who has published papers on pediatric and adolescent sports injuries.
Football is a high-contact sport with head injuries being quite common.
According to an article in last month's Journal of the American Medical Association , an estimated 63,000 students suffer concussions each year. Yet high school football, though it does pose dangers, is about 100 times safer than riding in a car, according to Dr. Metzl. We want to get our kids active and keep them active. Pediatric obesity has more than doubled in 20 years, he points out. Pointing out that high schools offer a variety of sports, Dr. Metzl advises parents to listen to what their kids want to do.