CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cheerleaders tackle increasingly acrobatic stunts and are paying the price with a rising number of injuries, researchers said on Tuesday.
The number of high school and grade school cheerleaders suffering sprains, strains, fractures, concussions, lacerations and other injuries more than doubled between 1990 and 2002. A yearly average of more than 16,000 U.S. cheerleaders aged 5 to 18 go to hospital emergency rooms with an injury, said study author Brenda Shields of Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.