Controversies in Pediatric Sports Medicine.

In brief: Primary care physicians often need to advise pediatric patients and their parents on medical issues in children's sports, but for many areas of sports medicine, data are inconclusive, recent, or nonexistent. For instance, infant exercise programs seem to be increasing in popularity with parents, but the passive exercises have little or no effect on an infant's development. And on another front, some schools still do not allow high school girls to try out for sports like football and wrestling, yet this position has been challenged in court by a few girls. This article highlights these and other controversial issues that have arisen in children's sports, 'he author discusses these issues in light of Policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics.