Cheerleading accounts for 65.1 percent of all catastrophic high school female athletic accidents. Cheerleading accounts for 66.7 percent of all catastrophic college female athletic accidents. Less than catastrophic injuries are more common and they occur at much younger ages, too. Children ages 5 to 18 admitted to hospitals for cheerleading accidents in the United States jumped from 10,900 in 1990 to 22,900 in 2002, according to research published in the journal
Pediatrics in 2006. The breakdown:
- Strains/sprains: 52.4 percent
- Soft tissue injuries: 18.4 percent
- Fractures/dislocations: 16.4 percent
- Lacerations/avulsions: 3.8 percent
- Concussions/closed head injuries: 3.5 percent
- Other: 5.5 percent