Soccer on Monday, gymnastics on Tuesday, Wednesday's a day off. Swimming on Thursday, soccer again on Friday and karate on Saturday. Sound familiar? That's a fairly routine after-school schedule for many Hong Kong children. And although parents have to foot a substantial bill for all that activity, it is the youngsters who may end up paying the price.
Yau Wai-pan, an assistant professor at Hong Kong University's department of orthopaedics and traumatology, says that as playing sport becomes more popular with Hong Kong children, we're likely to see injury patterns similar to those that occur in other countries where children play school sports, weekend sports and away team sports. These injuries include torn cartilages, broken kneecaps and fingers, nose and eye socket wounds, and even multiple concussion.
'From soccer and gymnastics to horse riding and martial arts - children are doing more sport and, I suspect, more aggressively and competitively,' says Yau.
Jason Brockwell, a specialist in orthopaedics and traumatology at Sports Physicians, says: 'Children's sports are getting more commercialised, with equipment more sophisticated and relatively young athletes turning pro for large pay cheques. All of this forces up the level of competitiveness.
'Parents push children who may not have a particular interest, or talent, which can cause psychological issues. I have a sports psychologist colleague who's been asked by one parent if it's okay to hit his son if he loses. Meanwhile, those kids who are talented can be pushed too hard and too fast, with resultant physical issues. There are more long-term consequences to these injuries in children, too, because they may cause a growth disturbance.'
'More children are being hurt on sports fields nowadays in Hong Kong,' says paediatric orthopaedic surgeon Li Yun-hoi. 'What's important to note is that if children or adolescents are hurt, they usually do not do the right thing themselves, it has to be done for them. Unfortunately, many are still taken to traditional bone-setters as a first port of call and this can do more harm than good in the long term.'
