Misdiagnosis

Medical expert Richard Besser, M.D., reported about an “epidemic” increase in torn ACL knee injuries in elementary school children on the “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” yesterday (March 25, 2014).   

Besser quoted from research done by Dr. Daniel Green at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery. “We recently looked at the database and found a five-to-six-fold increase over the last 20 years of ACL surgeries in children,” Green said.

As the report points out, “the anterior cruciate ligament, the main stabilizing ligament of the knee, is not strong enough to take the strain of repeated movements by itself; the whole knee must be strong."

Lest parents get too alarmed, Dr. Besser said “new data” show there’s a simple solution that reduces the risks: Warm-up exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee, no matter what sport.

The exercises involve jumping, stretching and flexing, simulating the movements that children used to do on playgrounds and in backyards. They take about 15 to 20 minutes and can be done before sports participation. According to one study, these warm-up exercises can reduce childhood ACL tears by 74%.

Here’s a humble suggestion, why don’t parents and family physicians stand up at their next school board meeting and ask elected officials why children are no longer required to take daily quality physical education?  

Now imagine that? Exercises involving jumping, stretching and flexing large muscles of the legs can prevent ACL tears as much as 74%?

Da Coach can top that: Exercises that involve strengthening all of the body’s major muscles, combined with stretching exercises, have been repeatedly proven to reduce musculoskeletal injuries of all types at any age.

Here’s a humble suggestion, why don’t parents and family physicians stand up at their next school board meeting and ask elected officials why children are no longer required to take daily quality physical education?  

Why as a society do we wait until our children eventually become victims of muscular atrophy and obesity—conditions directly related to our ever- increasing sedentary culture?  

We have the fattest kids in the world. All of the body’s weight-bearing joints suffer from the sheer impact of too much fat and too little muscle. You would think the medical community would be on the vanguard calling for daily, quality physical education taught by trained professionals held to the same criteria of performance as teachers of any other subject.

Those who blame youth sports and games for increased orthopedic issues would do far better confronting school officials and boards of education to get quality daily physical education re-established as a core subject. Until we do, all the statistics we see about children’s health are likely to be grim.

© Health Designs International, 2017