Mary J. Barron

A Cross-Sectional Study of Overweight in Pediatric Survivors of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

Survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are at risk for overweight, predisposing them to long‐term morbidity. We examined the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and demographic and lifestyle factors in a cohort of ALL survivors.

Growth status and estimated growth rate of youth football players: A community-based study.

Objective:To characterize the growth status of participants in community-sponsored youth football programs and to estimate rates of growth in height and weight. Design:Mixed-longitudinal over 2 seasons. Setting:Two communities in central Michigan. Participants:Members of 33 youth football teams in 2 central Michigan communities in the 2000 and 2001 seasons (Mid-Michigan PONY Football League). Methods:Height and weight of all participants were measured prior to each season, 327 in 2000 and 326 in 2001 (n = 653). The body mass index (kg/m2) was calculated. Heights and weights did not differ from season to season and between the communities; the data were pooled and treated cross-sectionally. Increments of growth in height and weight were estimated for 166 boys with 2 measurements approximately 1 year apart to provide an estimate of growth rate. Main Outcome Measure:Growth status (size-attained) of youth football players relative to reference data (CDC) for American boys and estimated growth rate relative to reference values from 2 longitudinal studies of American boys. Results:Median heights of youth football players approximate the 75th percentiles, while median weights approximate the 75th percentiles through 11 years and then drift toward the 90th percentiles of the reference. Median body mass indexes of youth football players fluctuate about the 85th percentiles of the reference. Estimated growth rates in height approximate the reference and may suggest earlier maturation, while estimated growth rates in weight exceed the reference. Conclusion:Youth football players are taller and especially heavier than reference values for American boys. Estimated rates of growth in height approximate medians for American boys and suggest earlier maturation. Estimated rates of growth in weight exceed those of the reference and may place many youth football players at risk for overweight/obesity, which in turn may be a risk factor for injury.

Time Trends in Incidence and Severity of Injury Among Collegiate Soccer Players in the United States NCAA Injury Surveillance System, 1990-1996 and 2004-2009

Background: A number of sociocultural and environmental changes have occurred over the past several decades that may affect the risk of injury among young athletes playing soccer. Purpose: To identify trends in injury incidence and severity between 2 time periods (1990-1996 and 2004-2009) in both male and female National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) soccer players in the United States. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Data were analyzed from the NCAA Injury Surveillance System. The rate ratio (RR), along with the 95% Wald CI, compared incidence density in 2004-2009 relative to that in 1990-1996. Results: Overall sex-pooled injury rates were significantly lower in the 2004-2009 cohort compared with the 1990-1996 cohort (RR = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.86-0.91), and this was true for almost every category of injury studied. We observed only 1 significant sex difference between the time periods with regard to noncontact injuries, as men experienced a significant increase in rate of noncontact injuries between 1990-1996 and 2004-2009 (RR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.02-1.17), whereas women experienced a significant decrease (RR = 0.70; 95% CI = 0.67-0.75). Conclusion: These surveillance data show decreasing trends in collegiate soccer injuries. Whether these decreases are attributable to greater resources being allocated toward athlete health, injury management, or the safety of the playing environment cannot be determined. Given the prominence of soccer play in the United States, public health efforts should promote the use of this surveillance system to better inform and evaluate injury prevention practices and policies directed toward player safety.

Playful Postmodernism: Building with Diversity in the Postmodern Classroom.

The critical examination of language and the deconstruction of truth claims play an important role in how we build with aiversity in our classrooms. We, as social work educators involved with playful postmodernism, recognize the significance of improvisation and playfulness in engaging the question: how is this examination and deconstruction done? We appreciate the value of improvisation in attending to process and allowing the messiness that building with diversity necessitates. Three classroom vighettes are provided to illustrate these concepts.

Effects of an injury prevention program on injury rates in American youth football.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the time-loss (TLIR) and non-time-loss injury rates (NTLIR) in youth football were decreased by the implementation of the P.R.E.P.A.R.E injury prevention program. This study consisted of two groups: coaches and players. Some coaches took the program and select elements of the program were instituted. The injury rates (IR) in the players were compared pre and post. There was a reduction of some of the IRs during the intervention season. This reduction may be due in part to some of the coaches completing the entire program and all of the coaches instituting six elements of the program. Continued research is needed to determine if the IRs, in youth football, are consistently reduced by implementation of the program. Further research is needed to examine the impact of coaches taking and implementing the program on the reduction of injuries in other youth sports.