Doctor says letting kids play football should be considered child abuse

The prominent doctor who inspired the movie "Concussion” told Channel 2 Action News that someday, parents allowing their children to play football will be considered child abuse.Children football in Shanghai

Dr. Bennet Omalu told Channel 2 Sports Director Zach Klein no one under the age of 18 should play football. But one local doctor and leaders of Metro Atlanta’s Pop Warner league say steps can be taken to protect children against brain injuries on the football field.I like playing football because of the hitting,” said 10-year-old Antrell Matthews, who plays for the Henry County Mustangs.

Hard hits to the head can lead to brain injuries including concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The symptoms of CTE are severe.CTE is a degenerative condition linked to repeated head injuries. It is only diagnosed after death by studying the brain.

"Diminished intelligence, inability to control your moods, your emotions, your temper,” said Dr. Omalu.He is the first doctor to discover CTE in a NFL player and his research inspired the movie "Concussion.”

Channel 2 Action News flew to California to go one-on-one with Omalu. He told us why he believes letting a child under the age of 18 play football is child abuse."Sending out a child to a field to suffer intentionally inflicted brain damage … there is 100 percent risk of exposure to brain damage. If that is not the classic definition of child abuse, what is?” he said.

Football had more concussions in games and practices that any other sport, more than 6 percent, according to a study of high school athletes between the 2008 and 2010 school years in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

Other recent studies have raised awareness about the dangers of concussions and CTE and it's having an impact on youth football. Across the U.S., fewer children are playing the sport.

However, Ryan Brown, the CEO and president of metro Atlanta Pop Warner, said local enrollment is up. Brown credits that to the way Pop Warner teaches children how to tackle to help prevent brain injuries. "We no longer use the head. We try to take the head out of the game, shoulder and arm tackle,” Brown said.

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