Cross-sport patterns of health-related conditions in Chinese young athletes based on a comprehensive motor function assessment.

BACKGROUND

The increasing global participation in youth sports has been accompanied by a concerning rise in sports-related injuries among children and adolescents, highlighting the need for more comprehensive assessment approaches. Current methods often fail to account for the complex interplay of biomechanical, physiological, and developmental factors unique to young athletes.

METHODS

This study employed an integrated motor function assessment framework combining sport-specific risk evaluation, Functional Movement Screening (FMS), metabolic-nutritional profiling, and biomechanical analysis (plantar pressure/gait) to address this gap. We included 307 participants (213 males and 94 female young athletes) from primary and secondary schools in Haidian District, Beijing, China.

RESULTS

Analysis of 11 sports revealed distinct injury patterns: 78% of male injuries involved lower extremities (soccer 38% foot/ankle, basketball 32% knee), while females showed combined lower/upper body issues (volleyball 19% shoulder). Sex differences were most pronounced in combat sports, where males demonstrated approximately 2 times higher lower limb injury prevalence compared to females. These findings highlight the critical need for sex-specific prevention strategies, recommending targeted interventions for male athletes' kinetic chain stability and female athletes' proprioceptive-neuromuscular control. The study provides descriptive epidemiological data that may inform the development of sport-specific, sex-optimized training regimens.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that the proposed integrated assessment framework may offer a useful approach for identifying sport- and sex-specific injury patterns in youth athletes. The observed associations between motor function impairments and injury distribution provide preliminary evidence to inform the development of targeted prevention strategies. Further prospective studies are warranted to evaluate the effectiveness of this framework in reducing injury risk and supporting long-term athletic development.