Newswise — Middle school football players greatly reduce the chance of head injuries if they wear padded helmets and use safe tackling and blocking techniques, according to Rutgers researchers.
The study was published in the journal Neurosurgery.
With youth players representing 70 percent of all amateur and professional football participants, attention is turning to the safety of the sport for younger players. Concussions and other head injuries in football and other contact sports among older athletes have been linked to cognitive problems, including dementia, depression and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease.
“Parents are understandably concerned that their young football players are putting themselves at risk for the same long-term brain or nervous system injuries that are reported in older players,” said Robert Heary, director of the…
