Ice hockey players collide with — or "body check" — opponents, attempting to separate them from the puck. Body checking may make for fast-paced hockey games, but it's also associated with high rates of injuries, especially in kids. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that body checking be limited in children 15 and younger, but the Canadian Hockey Association allows it in players ages 12 and older. Does allowing body checking at an earlier age reduce or increase the risk of injuries?
Using a Canadian injury database, researchers from York University and the Hospital for Sick Children, both in Toronto, identified children's ice hockey injuries from September 1995 through the end of August 2002. They compared children who played in areas where body checking was allowed with those in areas where it was prohibited.
Overall, 63% of the childhood hockey injuries occurred in Ontario, a Canadian province that allowed hockey players as young as 10 to body check. By comparison, only 37% of the injuries occurred in Quebec, a province that allows it only in players who are 14 or older. At ages 10 to 13, hockey players had a significantly greater risk of experiencing a body checking injury in Ontario. Younger players were also more likely to have concussions in areas where body checking was allowed.
Players 14 years or older had a higher risk of sustaining an injury in provinces where body checking was introduced at an early age. According to the study authors, this suggests that learning to body check at an earlier age doesn't help players learn to do it more safely.
What This Means to You
These study results indicate that ice hockey injuries occur more often and are more severe in areas that allow body checking at an earlier age, compared with areas that limit it to players 14 years or older. If your child wants to participate in an ice hockey league and is younger than 14, look for leagues that allow only noncontact play.
Source: Alison Macpherson, PhD; Linda Rothman, BScOT, MHSc; Andrew Howard, MD, MSc, FRCSC; Pediatrics, February 2006.
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: March 2006
