2012/10/23 by Cynthia R. LaBella, Jeffrey Mjaanes, Joel S. Brenner +9 · 1 citation
Medicine · #Sports injuries and prevention #Cardiovascular Effects of Exercise #Winter Sports Injuries and Performance
paper · doi:10.1542/peds.2012-2480
openalex publication_date 2012/10/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/12
Over the last 30 years, cheerleading has increased dramatically in popularity and has evolved from leading the crowd in cheers at sporting events into a competitive, year-round sport involving complex acrobatic stunts and tumbling. Consequently, cheerleading injuries have steadily increased over the years in both number and severity. Sprains and strains to the lower extremities are the most common injuries. Although the overall injury rate remains relatively low, cheerleading has accounted for approximately 66% of all catastrophic injuries in high school girl athletes over the past 25 years. Risk factors for injuries in cheerleading include higher BMI, previous injury, cheering on harder surfaces, performing stunts, and supervision by a coach with low level of training and experience. This policy statement describes the epidemiology of cheerleading injuries and provides recommendations for injury prevention.