Nutrition in Combat Sports

10 Children in Combat Sports 157
Table 10.2 Comparison of concussion risk in combat sports and other popular
youth contact/collision sports
Rate/1,000A-E Rate/1,000A-E (games
Sport
(practices) or matches)
Ice hockey [ 24]
(boys)
3.9
Football [23 ] 0.25 2.82
Soccer [23]
(girls)
0.05 0.71
(Boys) 0.04 0.57
Wrestling [23]
(boys)
Taekwondo
0.17 0.51
[25 ] 50 a
[ 58]
(Boys)
5.11
(Girls)
Judo [37 ]
4.55
(Boys) 5.2
(Girls) 18.5
aAll athletes with head blows were evaluated for concussion – underreporting much
less likely
Noncontact or light-contact styles such as Shotokan or Uechi-ryu karate have a
very low incidence of concussion among children and youth, with none reported in
, two studies. [19 20] Nineteen percent of all self-reported injuries occur to the head
and neck region in those under 18 years of age participating in Shotokan karate, [19]
and only 5% of injuries occur to the head and neck regions in Uechi-ryu karate in
children. [20]
In a study of pediatric martial arts injuries presenting to emergency rooms, concussions
comprised 4.1% of all judo injuries, compared with 2.8% of taekwondo
injuries and 1.6% of karate injuries. [21] Judo also had the highest proportion of
injuries to head/face/neck region (23.4%) compared with taekwondo (16.8%) and
karate (15.8%). [21]
The rate of concussion among children and adolescents participating in taekwondo
tournaments is alarmingly high, with middle-school athletes at greater risk
than high-school athletes. [25] Many concussions in taekwondo occur when a technique,
such as a kick to the head, is not blocked by the defender. Younger athletes
may be less skilled at performing blocks, placing them at increased risk of sustaining
a blow to the head.
Studies on injuries in muay thai kickboxing in general are extremely scarce. In one
study of amateur muay thai kickboxers, age 15–26, the head was the most frequently
injured body region in competition. [27] Thirteen percent of all injuries sustained in
competition were concussions. [27] In a previous study by the same authors, beginners
who were restricted to noncontact training sustained only 2.3% of all injuries to