• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Shop ModernMom
  • Become An Insider

ModernMom

The premiere destination for moms

  • Parenting
    • Pregnancy
    • Baby
    • Kids
    • Tweens and Teens
    • ModernMom Monday Videos
  • Cooking
  • Living Healthy
    • Breast Cancer
    • Health & Fitness
    • Body after Baby
    • Beauty
    • Relationships
    • Love
  • Lifestyle
    • Crafts
    • At Home
    • Education
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Decorate
    • Money
    • Brooke Burke
  • Celebrate
    • Holidays
      • Easter
      • Valentine’s Day
      • New Year’s
      • Christmas
      • Hanukah
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
    • Birthdays
    • Parties
  • Must Have
  • Contests
  • Entertainment

Heading Soccer Balls Can Lead To Brain Damage

December 9, 2011 by ModernMom Staff Leave a Comment

Soccer moms everywhere have a new thing to worry about – it turns out that repeatedly heading soccer balls isn’t great for young noggins.

Researchers from New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine decided to see what they’d find after doing brain scans on adults who “played soccer since childhood” and played in 12-month soccer leagues and determined how many of them had headed the ball in the previous year, the New York Times reported.

Their findings: “. . . [P]layers who had headed the ball more than about 1,100 times in the previous 12 months showed significant loss of white matter in parts of their brains involved with memory, attention and the processing of visual information compared with players who had headed the ball fewer times.”  Those folks were also “substantially worse at recalling lists of words read to them, forgetting or fumbling the words far more often than players who had headed the ball less often.”

A Humboldt State University researcher said that “there is a growing consensus that kids younger than 12 shouldn’t be heading . . . No one is suggesting that heading should be outlawed . . . [but] it’s almost certainly not a good idea to practice heading over and over and over.”

What do you think? Does your child play soccer?

Comments

comments

Filed Under: Hot Topics

About ModernMom Staff

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Search

Tell a friend

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ModernMom Boutique

ModernMom TV

Featured

It’s One of Those “I Suck” Days…

Do you ever just have one of those I suck days? I do - a … [Read More...] about It’s One of Those “I Suck” Days…

Must Have

STEM-related Toys to Include in Your Child’s Easter Basket This Year 

April has arrived which means it’s time to pull out the food … [Read More...] about STEM-related Toys to Include in Your Child’s Easter Basket This Year 

Did you know?

What Can I Substitute for Butter When Making Frosting?

How Many Calories Does 10,000 Steps Burn

How Many Calories Does 10,000 Steps Burn?

Pregnancy and Sinus Pain

Pregnancy and Sinus Pain

Dizziness in Pregnancy

Causes of Dizziness in Pregnancy

Use Frozen Bananas for Baking

How to Use Frozen Bananas for Baking

Remove the Lens From Plastic Frames

How to Remove the Lens From Plastic Frames

Baby Brain Development in the Womb

Footer

  • About Us
  • Contact ModernMom
  • Advertise With Us
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contributors

Copyright © 2023 Modern Mom. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction of any portion of this website only at the express permission of Mom, Inc.

The information provided on ModernMom is for educational use only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.