Injuries due to school sports accidents in 4 to 13-yr.-old children

505 kindergarten and primary school children from 4 to 13 years of age were treated for school sports injuries during the period 1990-1997. The incide nce of injuries increased statistically significantly from .5 per 1,000 chi ldren 4- to 5-yr.-old to 4.8 injured children per 1,000 in 12- to 13-yr.-ol d. 59% of the injuries involved upper extremities; 35% of these were in the wrist region. 33.5% of the injuries were of the lower extremities, with 50 % being of the feet and 36.4% of the ankle. Accidental falls were the main situation (53%) in which school sport accidents occurred. Nearly 65% of the se accidental falls occurred at the ground level; the remaining accidents ( 35%) occurred when the child was working on an apparatus, e.g., parallel ba rs, balancing beam, side horse. The 4- to 5-yr.-old children were the most vulnerable to accidental fall (67%). A statistically significant increase i n injuries in ball sports was observed from 4- to 5-yr.-olds (0%) to the 12 - to 13-yr.-olds (28%).