When young children take an interest in a sport, parents face a dilemma. Do you encourage a single sport starting at an early age, which can lead to a high skill level, competition and scholarships in the teen years? Or do you enroll your kids in several sports, exposing them to many activities and interests?

It’s a question many parents are no doubt mulling in the wake of the Olympics, where we were wowed by the single-minded dedication of Michael Phelps, who started swimming at the age of 11, and gymnast Shawn Johnson, who began her training at age 3.

But while dedication to a single sport at a young age paid off for these athletes, pediatricians warn that many more kids experience overuse injuries and burnout as a result of focusing on just one sport. Last year, the medical journal Pediatrics examined the problem of overuse injuries and burnout in adolescent athletes.

As my Well column in today’s Science Times notes, growing bones can’t handle the same stresses as mature bones. When a child specializes in one sport early in life, certain body parts — the arm of a Little League pitcher, the spine of a gymnast — are subjected to repetitive stress and overuse. Especially among young soccer players, there has been an alarming rise in injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament, the main ligament that stabilizes the knee joint — a particular concern because repair involves drilling into a growth plate, an area of developing tissue at the end of the leg bone.

Burnout is also a worry, and it’s important for both parents and kids to identify what the child’s goals really are, the journal notes.

The ultimate goal of youth participation in sports should be to promote lifelong physical activity, recreation, and skills of healthy competition that can be used in all facets of future endeavors…. Unfortunately, too often the goal is skewed toward adult (parent/coach) goals either implicitly or explicitly. The parent often hopes the child will get a scholarship, become a professional athlete, or fulfill the parents’ unfulfilled childhood dreams. It is best to identify and focus on the child’s motivation and goals to provide guidance.

The solution to overuse injuries and burnout is not to curb a child’s sports participation. Instead, encourage a variety of sports that develop different skills and use different body parts. For instance, swimming is probably not a good choice if the goal is to rest the shoulder of a Little League pitcher. But combining activities like track and golf or gymnastics and tennis will give over-used muscles a break, while still keeping a child physically active.

To learn more about childhood sports, read the full Well column here. And post your comments below. As an adult, do you wish you’d enjoyed several sports as a child or just focused on one? Have you struggled to convince your child there is more to life than soccer or gymnastics?

當(dāng)孩子們對(duì)一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)產(chǎn)生興趣時(shí)，父母往往陷入矛盾中。是鼓勵(lì)孩子小小年紀(jì)就投入某一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)中，使其在少年時(shí)得以達(dá)到較高的技術(shù)層次，參加比賽并得獎(jiǎng)。還是讓孩子同時(shí)參加多項(xiàng)體育運(yùn)動(dòng)，使他們擁有更多樣的活動(dòng)，培養(yǎng)更廣泛的興趣愛(ài)好？

奧運(yùn)會(huì)上，當(dāng)11歲便開(kāi)始專(zhuān)心投入游泳的Michael Phelps和3歲就開(kāi)始其體操生涯的Shawn Johnson成為備受矚目的明星之后，讓孩子們從事一項(xiàng)還是多項(xiàng)體育運(yùn)動(dòng)更成了讓很多父母?jìng)冾^疼的問(wèn)題。

盡管從小全心投入一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)使這些運(yùn)動(dòng)員們得到了豐厚回報(bào)，但兒科醫(yī)生也告誡人們，更多孩子因?yàn)橹粡氖乱豁?xiàng)體育鍛煉而導(dǎo)致身體因過(guò)度訓(xùn)練而損傷或產(chǎn)生職業(yè)倦怠感。去年，醫(yī)學(xué)雜志《兒科學(xué)》對(duì)成年運(yùn)動(dòng)員因訓(xùn)練過(guò)度而產(chǎn)生的損傷及職業(yè)倦怠感進(jìn)行了調(diào)查。

正如我在今天的《科學(xué)時(shí)間》雜志健康專(zhuān)欄里所寫(xiě)的那樣，尚在發(fā)育過(guò)程中的骨骼承受不了發(fā)育成熟的骨骼所能承受的壓力。當(dāng)一個(gè)孩子過(guò)早投身于一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)，他們身體的各部分－－如小投球手的胳膊，體操運(yùn)動(dòng)員的脊椎，肯定會(huì)反復(fù)承受壓力及被過(guò)度使用。特別是在小足球運(yùn)動(dòng)員中，越來(lái)越多人前交叉韌帶損傷，這是固定膝關(guān)節(jié)的韌帶，令人擔(dān)心的是它的修復(fù)需要在腿骨端生長(zhǎng)組織－－生長(zhǎng)板上鉆孔。

該雜志寫(xiě)道：職業(yè)倦怠感同樣令人擔(dān)心。孩子們的目標(biāo)到底是什么，這對(duì)父母和孩子來(lái)說(shuō)都很重要。

青年人參加體育運(yùn)動(dòng)的最終目標(biāo)應(yīng)該是促進(jìn)終身體育運(yùn)動(dòng)，是娛樂(lè)活動(dòng)，有利于提高良性競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的水平，而這在將來(lái)奮斗過(guò)程中的方方面面都很有用處。

但不幸的是，多數(shù)情況下，這個(gè)目標(biāo)或隱或顯地被強(qiáng)行轉(zhuǎn)換為成年人（家長(zhǎng)或教練）的目標(biāo)。

家長(zhǎng)總是希望孩子得到獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，成為專(zhuān)業(yè)運(yùn)動(dòng)員或達(dá)成父母?jìng)冃�時(shí)候未能達(dá)成的愿望。其實(shí)最好了解并且關(guān)注孩子們自己的想法和目標(biāo)，以此為基礎(chǔ)來(lái)提供指導(dǎo)。

解決過(guò)度訓(xùn)練損傷和職業(yè)倦怠感的方法不是限制孩子的運(yùn)動(dòng)，而是鼓勵(lì)他們參加多項(xiàng)可以提高不同技能的運(yùn)動(dòng)，使身體各部分都得到鍛煉。如果是為了使小投球手的胳膊得到休息，那么游泳可能就不是好的選擇。但將田徑和高爾夫或體操和網(wǎng)球相結(jié)合，就可以使過(guò)度使用的肌肉得到休息，并且仍然使孩子保持運(yùn)動(dòng)狀態(tài)。

要想了解更多關(guān)于孩子們運(yùn)動(dòng)方面的信息，可以閱讀完整的健康專(zhuān)欄。并將你們的意見(jiàn)留在下面。作為一個(gè)成年人，你是希望像孩子們一樣享受多種體育運(yùn)動(dòng)帶來(lái)的樂(lè)趣還是專(zhuān)心投入一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)？你是否曾苦口婆心地說(shuō)服孩子，除了足球和體操，生活中還有其他更重要的東西？