The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has reported a spike in sports injuries involving Kiwi youth.

Over the past 11 years, ACC said it has seen a 60% increase in lodged sports-related injuries in kids between the ages of 10 and 14. This is twice as high as the average across all age groups.

According to ACC sports injury prevention specialist Nat Hardaker, the “dramatic increase” in youth injuries meant ACC needed to take time to understand more about the factors contributing to this trend. While ACC cannot pin the spike to just one particular case, Hardaker said they have kids at both ends of the spectrum.

“Some kids are not doing enough sport and may be injuring themselves when they do play because of a lack of conditioning,” Hardaker explained. “Then there are some kids engaging in higher levels of structured sport and training, and not getting enough rest.

“Both scenarios may be contributing factors for injury,” he noted.

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Hardaker emphasised ACC will continue working with partners to research and understand more about the way kids are engaging in sport.

“The need to get Kiwi kids more active, and the importance of warming up, are well documented. There are initiatives in place to tackle those issues,” he added. “But the risks of specialising too early, and overloading underdeveloped bodies are less well known. We want to change that.”