When young children take an interest in a sport, parents face a dilemma. Do you encourage a single sport starting at an early age, which can lead to a high skill level, competition and scholarships in the teen years? Or do you enroll your kids in several sports, exposing them to many activities and interests?

It’s a question many parents are no doubt mulling in the wake of the Olympics, where we were wowed by the single-minded dedication of Michael Phelps, who started swimming at the age of 11, and gymnast Shawn Johnson, who began her training at age 3.

But while dedication to a single sport at a young age paid off for these athletes, pediatricians warn that many more kids experience overuse injuries and burnout as a result of focusing on just one sport. Last year, the medical journal Pediatrics examined the problem of overuse injuries and burnout in adolescent athletes.

As my Well column in today’s Science Times notes, growing bones can’t handle the same stresses as mature bones. When a child specializes in one sport early in life, certain body parts — the arm of a Little League pitcher, the spine of a gymnast — are subjected to repetitive stress and overuse. Especially among young soccer players, there has been an alarming rise in injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament, the main ligament that stabilizes the knee joint — a particular concern because repair involves drilling into a growth plate, an area of developing tissue at the end of the leg bone.

Burnout is also a worry, and it’s important for both parents and kids to identify what the child’s goals really are, the journal notes.

The ultimate goal of youth participation in sports should be to promote lifelong physical activity, recreation, and skills of healthy competition that can be used in all facets of future endeavors…. Unfortunately, too often the goal is skewed toward adult (parent/coach) goals either implicitly or explicitly. The parent often hopes the child will get a scholarship, become a professional athlete, or fulfill the parents’ unfulfilled childhood dreams. It is best to identify and focus on the child’s motivation and goals to provide guidance.

The solution to overuse injuries and burnout is not to curb a child’s sports participation. Instead, encourage a variety of sports that develop different skills and use different body parts. For instance, swimming is probably not a good choice if the goal is to rest the shoulder of a Little League pitcher. But combining activities like track and golf or gymnastics and tennis will give over-used muscles a break, while still keeping a child physically active.

To learn more about childhood sports, read the full Well column here. And post your comments below. As an adult, do you wish you’d enjoyed several sports as a child or just focused on one? Have you struggled to convince your child there is more to life than soccer or gymnastics?

當孩子們對一項運動產生興趣時，父母往往陷入矛盾中。是鼓勵孩子小小年紀就投入某一項運動中，使其在少年時得以達到較高的技術層次，參加比賽并得獎。還是讓孩子同時參加多項體育運動，使他們擁有更多樣的活動，培養更廣泛的興趣愛好？

奧運會上，當11歲便開始專心投入游泳的Michael Phelps和3歲就開始其體操生涯的Shawn Johnson成為備受矚目的明星之后，讓孩子們從事一項還是多項體育運動更成了讓很多父母們頭疼的問題。

盡管從小全心投入一項運動使這些運動員們得到了豐厚回報，但兒科醫生也告誡人們，更多孩子因為只從事一項體育鍛煉而導致身體因過度訓練而損傷或產生職業倦怠感。去年，醫學雜志《兒科學》對成年運動員因訓練過度而產生的損傷及職業倦怠感進行了調查。

正如我在今天的《科學時間》雜志健康專欄里所寫的那樣，尚在發育過程中的骨骼承受不了發育成熟的骨骼所能承受的壓力。當一個孩子過早投身于一項運動，他們身體的各部分－－如小投球手的胳膊，體操運動員的脊椎，肯定會反復承受壓力及被過度使用。特別是在小足球運動員中，越來越多人前交叉韌帶損傷，這是固定膝關節的韌帶，令人擔心的是它的修復需要在腿骨端生長組織－－生長板上鉆孔。

該雜志寫道：職業倦怠感同樣令人擔心。孩子們的目標到底是什么，這對父母和孩子來說都很重要。

青年人參加體育運動的最終目標應該是促進終身體育運動，是娛樂活動，有利于提高良性競爭的水平，而這在將來奮斗過程中的方方面面都很有用處。

但不幸的是，多數情況下，這個目標或隱或顯地被強行轉換為成年人（家長或教練）的目標。

家長總是希望孩子得到獎學金，成為專業運動員或達成父母們小時候未能達成的愿望。其實最好了解并且關注孩子們自己的想法和目標，以此為基礎來提供指導。

解決過度訓練損傷和職業倦怠感的方法不是限制孩子的運動，而是鼓勵他們參加多項可以提高不同技能的運動，使身體各部分都得到鍛煉。如果是為了使小投球手的胳膊得到休息，那么游泳可能就不是好的選擇。但將田徑和高爾夫或體操和網球相結合，就可以使過度使用的肌肉得到休息，并且仍然使孩子保持運動狀態。

要想了解更多關于孩子們運動方面的信息，可以閱讀完整的健康專欄。并將你們的意見留在下面。作為一個成年人，你是希望像孩子們一樣享受多種體育運動帶來的樂趣還是專心投入一項運動？你是否曾苦口婆心地說服孩子，除了足球和體操，生活中還有其他更重要的東西？