Jincheng Xu1, Can Gao2, Jiexiu Zhao1. 1. Sport Biological Center, China Institute of Sport Science, Beijing 100061, China. 2. Sports Hospital, National Institute of Sports Medicine, Beijing 100061, China.
Dear editor,In 2015, a national reform plan was implemented by the central government that covers not only professional clubs and leagues but also campus and grassroots football, to develop football (soccer) in China. According to the plan of China's Ministry of Education (MOE), football will be nationally promoted among school students and youth. Furthermore, MOE plans to select 20,000 primary or middle schools in which the sport would have been promoted by 2020. Then, this number would be increased to 50,000 by 2025.Given the obvious health benefits of football, such as improvements in cardiovascular function, body composition, bone mass and bone mineral density, and functional capacity, national football promotion in schools can help improve the physical fitness and health of Chinese children and adolescents. The 2014 Report on National Fitness Survey released in November of 2015 indicated that obesity in Chinese children and adolescents continues to rise. Thus, this national football promotion can eventually play an important role in obesity control among Chinese school students with the aforementioned benefits of football on body composition.Despite its health benefits, football, as a contact sport, also has a certain injury risk. The overall injury incidence reported in children and adolescents ranged from 2 to 7 injuries per 1000 h of football for those aged 13–19, whereas the data in younger children were sparse. To our knowledge, up until now, only 1 study reported that injury incidence was 0.61 injuries per 1000 h of football during training and 4.57 during matches in children aged 7–12. This potential injury incidence combined with the huge base number of 50,000 schools that will be selected to promote football in China by 2025 can lead to socioeconomic and public health consequences without proper health care. Well-organized injury prevention and education programs can significantly reduce football injuries in children and adolescents. However, the authors believe that studies on these programs have been lacking thus far in China.Children and adolescents are the future of society, and their health should be given particular attention. Therefore, Chinese healthcare providers, sports scientists, and relevant institutes should be actively involved in this national football promotion activity and should closely cooperate with government departments to help Chinese children and adolescents gain maximal fitness or health benefits while reducing injury or health risk to minimum.
Authors' contributions
JX conceived of the study and its design, obtained research grants for this study, and drafted the manuscript. JZ helped to conceive of the study and its design, obtained research grants for this study, and helped to draft the manuscript. CG participated in the design of this study and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript, and agree with the order of presentation of the authors.
Competing interests
None of the authors declare competing financial interests.