Concussions: A Girls’ Health Problem

For many people, the connection between sports and concussions will come as no surprise. Within the past few months, concussions have had a continued presence in the media, mostly as they pertain to professional football. Intentionally or not, the NFL has been leading the charge on concussion awareness for the past several years. In 2014, documents were brought to federal court saying that a third of all retired NFL players were expected to develop a “long-term cognitive problem” at some point in their lives as a result of head injuries from football. Recently, a court finally affirmed the deal for the NFL to compensate all players who had suffered neurological damage as a result of these injuries. While this represents an important victory for former athletes, the battle to improve concussion prevention has only just begun. Because of the popularity of professional football in the United States, the NFL often dominates the public discourse on concussions. But by framing the conversation about concussions around football, we are alienating one of the most vulnerable populations: girls. Several studies have shown that the rate of concussions is higher for girls and women than for boys and men in similar sports. One 11-year-long study found that “although the collision sports of football and boys’ lacrosse had the highest number of concussions … concussion occurred in all other sports and was observed in girls’ sports at rates similar to or higher than those of boys...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Children gender Policy Women's Health Source Type: blogs