More children are getting ACL injuries – here’s what could be done to prevent them

The ACL is crucial for jumps and pivots, movements necessary for many sports. Lopolo/Shutterstock by Michael Duncan, Coventry University; Jason Tallis, Coventry University, and Theresa Heering, Coventry University There’s no doubt that for children and teenagers, taking part in physical activity and sport is hugely beneficial. It improves their health and wellbeing, creates opportunities for social interaction and builds resilience and leadership skills for life. However, playing sport can also lead to injury. One particularly nasty sporting injury is damage to the ACL – the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee, which attaches the thigh (femur) and shin (tibia) bones. ACL injuries have rocketed among children in England, and our researchsuggests that one cause of this is that children are not developing basic movement skills, such as jumping and hopping. Rising injury cases The ACL plays an important role in providing stability to the knee joint. In particular, it helps prevent excessive forward movement of the tibia and knee joint rotation during movements, such as quick changes of direction during sprinting, pivoting and jump landings. All of these movements are key to many sports. ACL injury is debilitating at any age, but an ACL rupture experienced during childhood can have...