Boxing has been around since it was added to the Olympics in 688 BC and likely for thousands of years before that.
Over the years, more and more rules have made it safer, especially for amateur boxers. In contrast to professional boxers, amateur boxers:
- wear a head guard
- use more heavily cushioned gloves
- have shorter rounds
- have fewer rounds
For example, at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, each bout consisted of three rounds of three minutes each.
Still, the American Academy of Pediatrics, in a new policy statement that will be published in the September issue of Pediatrics, recommends that physicians "vigorously oppose boxing in youth and encourage patients to participate in alternative sport in which intentional blows are not central to the sports."
The policy statement, "Boxing Participation by Children and Adolescents," also highlights the risks of concussions, chronic traumatic brain injury, and boxers who use unsafe practices to make their weight class.
"While most sports have some risk of injury, boxing is especially dangerous because these athletes are rewarded for dedicated and deliberate hits to their opponent's head," said Claire LeBlanc, MD, FAAP, co-author of the new position statement and chair of the CPS Healthy Active Living and Sports Medicine Committee.
The risks of youth boxing is especially worrisome because children's brains can be more vulnerable to concussion, and can take longer to recover than an adult.
If your child does box, make sure he or she gets appropriate medical care before and after matches, including regular regular neurocognitive and ophthalmologic screening examinations, and that you follow return-to-play guidelines after injuries.
Not surprisingly, the AAP has always been against youth boxing. Their original policy statement on boxing came out in 1997 and it also recommended that pediatricians "Vigorously oppose boxing as a sport for any child, adolescent, or young adults."
What is a little surprising though, is that although this is the second AAP policy statement about youth boxing, there is no policy statement on mixed martial arts for kids.
Although boxing may have benefits for kids, including encouraging physical activity, self-discipline, and self-confidence, but the AAP still recommends that kids find an alternative sport to play.
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Concussion in Sports
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Getting Started in Youth Sports
Youth Sports Injuries
Hi I’m afraid that I don’t have a comment to make but a question on whether is it age appropriate for preschoolers age 5-6yrs to participate in ‘Triathlon’ consisting of:
1. 100 to 200m swim
2. 5 to 10 km bike
3. 1 to 2km run
Eagerly looking forward to your views
Unlike youth boxing, the AAP is not against youth triathlons. They do state that the youth triathlons should have an emphasis on safety, fun, and fitness.
I’m not sure about 5-6 years olds participating though. A lot of kids are still using training wheels at that age and are just learning to swim well.
The lower end of those ranges are what I have seen in youth triathlons for 7-8 year olds.
My guess is that the reason for no policy on mixed martial arts is that it is common for many martial arts schools to practice and teach martial arts for children as a non contact sport.In some classes even non contact sparring is not allowed till the children are older and have also had training in control and pulling punches.Some clubs never do sparring at all, instead practicing katas (a dance like series of movements).
A full contact blow to the head in a non contact sparring session or tournament would be grounds for disqualification, unlike boxing where apparently it is expected and rewarded.
And of course martial arts such as Judo and Aikido are about about falls,grapples and throws rather than contact punches.Most Tai Chi is purely about gentle moves, somewhat similar to yoga. ( It can be taught as defensive art, but this is not done very often).
Football is probably far more dangerous for most children than most martial arts.
“My guess is that the reason for no policy on mixed martial arts is that it is common for many martial arts schools to practice and teach martial arts for children as a non contact sport.”
I wasn’t thinking about regular martial arts, like karate or taekwondo, but rather MMA or ultimate fighting championship (UFC) type mixed martial arts, which is definitely a full contact combat sport.