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With the games of the 30^th Olympiad set to begin in less than a month, children from every corner of the globe are gearing up to be inspired by their favorite athletes from Usain Bolt to Tyson Gay to Allyson Felix. From there, children might want to start participating in track and field, but does their participation come without the risk of injury?

A new study by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that from 1991 through 2008 more than 159,000 children and adolescents between 10 and 18 years of age were treated in U.S. emergency departments for track-related injuries. The annual number of track-related injuries increased 36 percent during the 18-year study period, jumping from 7,702 in 1991 to 10,496 in 2008. The study focused solely on running-related activities, such as sprinting, distance running, relay races, and hurdles.

"Participation in track is a great way to encourage children and adolescents to remain physically active," said Lara McKenzie, PhD, principal investigator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy and senior author of the study. "However, the increase in injuries corresponding with the increased participation in this activity suggests we need to do a better job of preventing track-related injuries among our young athletes."

In the 2008-200 academic year, only football was more popular than track and field. Over 1 million children participated in high school track and field compared to less than 900,000 in the 2002 - 2003 school year.

According to researchers, the most frequently injured body parts were the lower extremities with about 58 percent of those studied suffering from them. The also had injuries in the upper extremities - 19 percent - and mid-body - about 14 percent.

Children in elementary school were most likely to sustain injuries to the upper extremities compared to children in middle school and high school. The study also revealed that boys were two times more likely to sustain a mid-body injury and have increased odds of sustaining an upper extremity injury than an injury to other body regions. Girls were more likely to sustain an injury to the lower extremities than to other body regions. The ankle - 21 percent -, knee - about 17 percent - and pelvis - 11 percent - were the most commonly injured body parts. The most common injury diagnoses were sprains and/or strains - about 52 percent and fractures or dislocations - about 17 percent.

"We found that the most commonly injured body parts varied across activity and across age group. For instance, elementary students were more likely to sustain upper extremity injuries while high school students were more likely to sustain lower leg injuries," said Dr. McKenzie, also a professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "With this in mind, track-related injury prevention efforts may need to be tailored by activity for different age groups in order to most effectively address the injury concerns the athletes are facing."

Other Interesting Findings:

The most common track activities or events being performed at the time of injury were running and hurdles.

Children in elementary school were more likely to be injured during hurdles compared with middle school and high school children.

Boys were more likely to be injured during sprints, whereas girls were more likely to be injured during hurdles than all other activities or events.

Hurdling, compared with all other activities and events, was more than four times more likely to result in injury to the upper extremities and more likely to result in an injury to the head than other body regions Sprinting, compared with all other track activities or events, was four  times more likely to result in an injury to the pelvis and three times more likely to result in an injury to the upper leg than other body parts.

Cross-country events, compared with all other track activities or events, were more likely to result in an injury to the foot (or the lower leg than other body parts.

According to researchers, this is the first study to use a nationally representative sample to examine track-related injuries that were treated in U.S. emergency departments. The study was published in the journal, The Physician and Sportsmedicine.