Getting a good night's sleep can go a long way toward keeping adolescent athletes from getting hurt.
Teen athletes who get more than eight hours of shut-eye each night are 68 percent less likely to be injured than those who sleep less, according to research presented this week at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference.
Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles surveyed 112 student athletes — 54 boys and 58 girls — in grades 7 through 12 about their activities and sleeping habits, then compared their findings to the students' injury histories. Although the study was designed to examine the risk factors that might be associated with injuries, the researchers were surprised to find sleep was a bigger factor than the number of sports played or the amount of time committed to athletics.
"We found that lack of sleep and grade in school were two most significant factors," said Dr. Matthew Milewski, who wrote the study, Lack of Sleep Is Associated With Increased Risk of Injury in Adolescent Athletes. "We weren't expecting this to be the major finding of the study. Mom was probably right that you need a good night's sleep to do well in school and sports, and now it looks like you need a sufficient amount of sleep to minimize risk of injury."
The more hours a sleep a night a student got, the less likely he or she was to be injured. What's more, the higher the grade level, the higher the chance of injury. Interestingly, other factors, including gender, number of sports and having a personal coach, had no significant impact on the rate of injury.
It's long been known that lack of sleep can impact cognitive and motor skills, which could lead to mistakes on the field. And the researchers suggest that body may require a minimum amount of sleep to heal. But they concede further research is needed to fully understand the link between sleep and sports injuries.
"There’s a lot of focus both in the media and throughout the medical community in trying to prevent sports injuries," Milewski said. "A lot of those efforts are rightly approached, making sure kids have the right training, like not over pitching in baseball or not going back in to a football or soccer game too soon after a concussion. In the future, injury prevention should also focus on the importance of sleep."
