Sports and recreational activities contribute to approximately 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among American children. The majority of head injuries sustained in sports or recreational activities occur during bicycling, skateboarding, or skating incidents. More than 775,000 children, ages 14 and under, are treated in hospital emergency rooms for sports-related injuries each year. Most of the injuries occurred as a result of falls, being struck by an object, collisions, and overexertion during unorganized or informal sports activities. The highest rates of injury occur in sports that involve contact and collisions.
More severe injuries occur during individual sports and recreational activities.
Approximately 20 million children take part in recreational or competitive sports outside of school. Approximately 20 percent of children participating in sports activities are injured each year, and one in four injuries is considered serious. Children who are less developed than a more mature child of the same age and weight are at increased risk for injury. Sports-related injury severity increases with age. Before puberty, girls and boys suffer the same risk of sports injuries.