Today, the menace of a sedentary life threatens kids as much as adults. Television viewing, surfing the net and playing video games contribute substantially to the amount of time children spend in sedentary pursuits. The need to involve kids in physical activity and sports is at an all time high. Lazy, inactive kids grow up to be lazy, inactive adults. As the need to involve children in sports activities grows, so does the need to check the sports environment, to ascertain whether where and how they are playing is safe or not. Injury is an inevitable part of growing up; minimizing it on the playing fields is your responsibility as a parent. To ensure that you give the child the best possible environment and coaching to prevent injury, especially because damage to growing and immature growth plates could unfortunately result in serious discomfort as the child grows to adulthood. Here’s what yo can do to minimize physical injury:

• Consider a sport that suits your child: Pushing a reluctant child into a sport that doesn’t suit her mindset is akin to inviting injury. The child’s lackadaisical attitude will translate into indifferent participation and slower body responses. Every parent wants a Sachin tendulkar, but what is ideal is proper counseling with a sports medicine consultant to discuss which sports suit the child keeping in consideration her body type and liking.

• Review the sports programme or the intended circuit: If your child is going to be involved with a regular sports activity, take the time to do a recce of the facility and equipment. Confirm with the authorities that the coaches are qualified, that the playing fields or gym floors are appropriate, and the adequate medical arrangements are in place for emergencies.

• Choose the right person as a coach: The best coach will be a person who has gone through the grind, seen all aspects of the sport herself, and gone through the agony of all its ups and downs. There are umpteen examples of people who attend a yoga coaching class and start training students after a few theory and practical classes. These are the bane of an average Indian parent, who might put their children under these quacks influenced by advertisements. There can be no substitute for a well qualified coach with a good understanding of the mechanics of the body in the particular sport and the physiology of the sport.

• Buy protective gear: And then insist that your child wears it. Protective gear is anything that is worn to keep her from getting hurt, includes helmets, pads, guards and special sports shoes. It’s important to ensure that the gear is correct size and fits snugly. And that your child knows how to put it on properly.

• Talk about the importance of warm ups and downs: Warming up is very important because the ligaments and tendons must be properly starched so that muscles can take more pressure during the more active workouts. It prepares the body for the rigorous demands of exercise, gradually increases the cardiac output, ventilation, blood pressure, oxygen consumption, dilation of blood vessels and elasticity of active muscles and connective tissues. It also produces increased body heat and increases one’s psychological enthusiasm for the exercise. Cool down and stretching routines are also imperative. Cooling down allows the cardio respiratory system to gradually return to normal, decreases overall metabolism, and reduces the potential for muscle cramping and spasm.