16 year-old
Jeret was on the mound in the fourth inning of a summer league
game. His mom, Sherri Adair remembers, “It was a clean pop.
I mean the tendon tore away from the bone.” Jeret says, “I
tried to throw the next pitch and I just three hopped it to the
catcher and I just knew my arm was gone.”

His elbow had been hurting for years, but he didn’t want
to complain or stop pitching. Jeret says, “You don’t
want to be out for the season just because your arm is hurting.” Sherri
says, “There’s a lot of glory in throwing the ball
and pitching and winning the game.”

Doctors say too often both parents and kids believe the way to
excel is to play only one sport, and start young. Dr. Michael Busch,
a pediatric orthopedic surgeon with Children’s Healthcare
of Atlanta says, “Years ago you’d play baseball in
the summer, and football in the fall, basketball in the winter,
and do track and field or soccer or something in the spring. These
kids just go from one baseball league to the next to the next,
and they play baseball all year round.“

The problem is repetition. Dr. Busch explains, “The tissues
in the body are a lot like a paperclip. If you just keep bending
it over and over and over again, eventually that paperclip is going
to break.” He says ideally kids should play a variety of
sports. If they do specialize, vary the workout and take time off.
Jeret says, “ Sitting out a couple games of summer
baseball is not really going to affect you at all in the long run.”

Jeret had surgery on his elbow last summer. He is playing baseball
again, but now, when his arm hurts… he rests. Sherri says, “I
can already see that he’ll say, ’My arm was a little
sore. I’m really not going to throw much tomorrow.’”

Dr. Busch says, “I’d use pain as a guide. The body
has this very intricate monitoring system for a good purpose, and
that’s what pain is.”

He says strength training is a big part of injury prevention. He
advises kids who specialize in one sport to model themselves on professional
athletes. Take a season off, and spend part of the year cross training.

Many parents question why their children get hurt on the playing field.
According to the American Medical Association (AMA), there are three main
reasons why children are hurt during sports:

• Children are less coordinated and have slower reaction times
  than adults because they are still growing and developing.
• Children mature at different rates. Therefore, children of the
  same age can be substantially different in height and weight. When
  larger children play against smaller kids, even when their ages
  are the same, there may be an increased risk of injury.
• As children
  grow bigger and stronger, the potential for and severity of injury
  increase largely because of the amount of force involved. For
  example, a collision between two 8-year-old football players who
  weigh 65 pounds does not produce as much force as two 16-year-old
  high school football players who each weigh 200 pounds. There is
  also an increase in sports injuries as children get older. Children
  under age 10 are more likely to be injured on playgrounds or from
  bicycle riding, while injuries due to organized sports or overexertion
  tend to occur more frequently in older children.

Competitive sports have become a major part of American culture.
Athletes are treated like heroes, entire television networks are devoted
to sports, and fans spend millions of dollars every year attending games
and supporting their teams. Because of the popularity of sports, however,
many young athletes may take risks or push themselves without regard to future
problems. Experts at SafeUSA have developed a list of preventative steps
to protect your child from sports injuries:

• Before your child starts a training program or enters a competition,
  take him or her to the doctor for a physical exam. The doctor can
  help assess any special injury risks your child may have.
• Make sure your child wears all the required safety gear every
  time he or she plays and practices.
• Know how the sports equipment should fit your child and how
  to use it. If you’re not sure, ask the coach or a sporting goods
  expert for help. Set a good example – if you play a sport,
  wear your safety gear, too.
• Insist that your child warm up and stretch before playing, paying
  special attention to the muscles that will get the most use during
  play (for example, a pitcher should focus on warming up his/her
  shoulder and arm).
• Teach your child not to play through pain. If your child gets
  injured, take him/her to the doctor. Follow all the doctor’s orders
  for recovery, and get the doctor’s permission before your child
  returns to play.
• Make sure first aid is available at all games and practices
• Talk to and watch your child’s coach. Coaches should enforce
  all the rules of the game, encourage safe play, and understand
  the special injury risks that young players face.
• If you’re not sure if it’s safe for your child to perform a
  certain technique or move (such as heading a soccer ball or diving
  off the highest platform), ask your pediatrician and the coach.
• Above
  all, keep sports fun. Putting too much focus on winning can make
  your child push too hard and risk injury.

American Medical Association
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – SafeUSA
Sports Injury Clinic

For the past few years, 18-year-old Pam Shelton says she’s been drinking about 10 caffeinated drinks a day. “I probably have three cups of coffee and the rest soda,” she says.

Terry Kleeblatt, also 18, figures he averages about eight a day. “I drink a lot of Diet Coke all day (and) coffee, lot of ice coffee, every day,” he says.

At 50 to 100 milligrams of caffeine per drink, both probably consume at least 500 milligrams of caffeine a day. “The safe recommended intake for caffeine for adults is between 200 and 300 milligrams a day,” says Rachel Brandeis with the American Dietetic Association.

Experts say caffeine has two effects that are particularly troubling for teenagers. First, it can interfere with a good nights sleep. “And teenagers, because they are growing so rapidly, actually have an increased demand for sleep,” says Brandeis.

Second, kids who drink a lot of caffeinated drinks are often short on calcium, in part because they usually drink less milk, but also because caffeine depletes calcium that’s already in the body. “This is a peak time in terms of growth, especially in terms of building bone density and bone mass. And increased levels of caffeine can in fact increase calcium excretion through urine,” says Brandeis.

Experts say if your teenager is having trouble sleeping or is irritable, it may be a red flag for parents to ask about caffeine intake. “Chances are your teenager may not realize how much caffeine is in a cup of coffee or one of those frozen drinks,” says Brandeis. “So always ask, and always offer alternative beverages at home — whether it’s 100 percent juice, whether it’s milk or dairy products — to make sure that, you know, your teen is getting enough calcium.”

Caffeine can be found in everything from chocolate bars to over-the-counter analgesics, many cold remedies, and weight-loss pills.

Sufi priests made the first caffeinated drink out of coffee-bean husks, then used the liquid to fuel all-night religious ceremonies. Early Europeans witnessing these maniacal events dubbed the participants “whirling dervishes.”

W hile other favorite teen beverages such as soda pop and high-energy drinks also contain caffeine, ounce for ounce they can’t match the high level of caffeine in brewed coffee. Some link the popularity of frozen coffee drinks such as the Starbucks Frappuccino and Caribou Cooler to the current craze for caffeine among teens who begin with these milk shake-like beverages and soon move on to hot drinks, eventually graduating to espressos on their way to becoming coffee connoisseurs.

Caffeine isn’t a drug like amphetamines or cocaine because it doesn’t act on the areas of the brain related to reward, motivation and addiction. One can crave caffeine, but doesn’t absolutely need it. Caffeine is by far the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world, easily surpassing both alcohol and nicotine. A study of java-drinking trends by the National Coffee Association showed that, as of 2000, a record 79 percent of U.S. adults consumed coffee.

Caffeine’s molecular structure is very similar to that of adenosine, an inhibitory brain substance found in many animals, including humans. Animal studies show that adenosine could be somnolent, or sleep-inducing. When people need sleep, their adenosine levels are high, which seems to trigger the brain into wanting to shut down. The longer you’re awake, the more adenosine gradually accumulates in your brain. This surplus binds to specialized adenosine receptors, depressing nervous-system activity and making you groggy. Getting sufficient sleep clears the chemical from your system. An alternative to clearing adenosine: You can block it before it has a chance to make you sleepy. Caffeine does this by binding to adenosine receptors before the adenosine gets there.

• The coffee industry rakes in an estimated $18 billion per year.
• As a nation, we down 350 million cups of coffee a day
• The number of teens drinking coffee in restaurants or cafes has increased 12 percent this year and 15 percent in the previous year.
• Caffeine has no nutritional value, is not needed for any physiologic function and is commonly abused by the tired and stressed.
• Coffee can sometimes trigger gastrointestinal distress.

Caffeine is a drug. It can disrupt teenagers’ already erratic wake-sleep cycle, which can have harmful effects on short-term memory and learning ability and can lead to decreased productivity, negative mood, loss of behavioral control, depression and an increase in impulsiveness. A large caffeine intake can lead to increased heart rate and increased blood pressure in teenagers. Caffeine’s effects on teenagers can be greater than on adults because of teens’ varying tolerance levels and low body weight.

It’s important to understand caffeine causes physical dependence in its users, meaning users go through withdrawal symptoms, which can range from throbbing headaches to fatigue to irritability.

• Caffeine is a drug that affects mood, behavior and nervous system.
• Teens who drink coffee socially should drink decaf coffee or half and half to avoid the harmful effects of caffeine.
• Teens should consume no more than three caffeinated soda beverages or one super-caffeinated coffee beverage a day.
• For those hoping to ace a critical exam through a short-lived boost in IQ, the current evidence indicates that caffeine doesn’t make you smarter.
• Caffeine can have a dramatic effect on alertness but as you move to higher-order cognitive functioning, such as decision making, it has little impact.
• Know that caffeine comes in many forms. There’s a new caffeinated gum on the market: Jolt Caffeine Energy Gum. Two pieces are capable of leaching the same amount of caffeine as in a cup of coffee in just five minutes.

The Detroit News
Jolt Gum
MSN Diet & Fitness
National Coffee Association