International Consensus Definition of 'Sport & Exercise' in Toddlers and Young Children, Children, and Adolescents

Authors

• Gavin A. Davis, Brain and Mind, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Nicholas Anderson, Brain and Mind, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Franz E. Babl, Brain and Mind, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Dustin W. Ballard, Emergency Department, Kaiser Permanente (KP) Northern California, San Rafael, California, USA.
• Karen M. Barlow, Child Health Research Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
• Michael J. Barrett, Department of Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Children's Health Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
• Miriam H. Beauchamp, Department of Psychology, University of Montreal & CHU Sainte-Justine Azrieli Research Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• Meredith L. Borland, Emergency Department, Perth Children's Hospital and University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
• Silvia Bressan, Pediatric Emergency Department, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
• Louise Crowe, Brain and Mind, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Shu-Ling Chong, Emergency Department, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore City, Singapore.
• Daniel J. Corwin, Emergency Department, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Stuart R. Dalziel, Emergency Department, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
• Carolyn A. Emery, Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
• Emmanuelle Fauteux-Lamarre, Emergency Department, Cork University Hospital, Cork, Ireland.
• Gerard A. Gioia, Division of Neuropsychology, Children's National Hospital & George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
• Juliet Haarbauer-Krupa, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
• Michael W. Kirkwood, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
• Ruth Mari Löllgen, Paediatric Emergency Department, Astrid Lindgrens Childrens Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
• Christina L. Master, Pediatrics and Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Audrey McKinlay, School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
• John Olver, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Santiago Mintegi, Pediatric Emergency Department, Hospital Universitario Cruces, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
• Viviana Pavlicich, Emergency Department, Hospital General Pediátrico Niños de Acosta Ñu, Asunción, Paraguay.
• Laura Purcell, Department of Sport Medicine, McMaster University, Brantford, Canada.
• Radhika Raman, Emergency Medicine, Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital, Chennai, India.
• Pedro Rino, Emergency Department, Hospital de Pediatría "Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan", Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Stacy J. Suskauer, Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
• Itai Shavit, Division of Pediatrics, Hadassah Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
• Emma J. Tavender, Brain and Mind, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Jacqueline van Ierssel, Physiotherapy Department, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
• Keith Owen Yeates, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2-17-2025

Journal

Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)

DOI

10.1111/apa.70013

Keywords

adolescent; children; exercise; sport; toddler

Abstract

AIM: The study aim was to develop an age-appropriate definition of sport and exercise in children and adolescents for use in concussion research and management. METHODS: A modified Delphi methodology, with three rounds and consensus defined a priori as ≥ 80% agreement. RESULTS: Thirty-one participants (13 male, 18 female) from 13 countries, including clinical psychologists, epidemiologists, implementation scientists, neurologists, neuropsychologists, neurosurgeons, paediatric emergency physicians, paediatricians, physiotherapists, rehabilitation physicians, speech-language pathologists, and sports medicine physicians came to a consensus that sport-related paediatric concussion extends beyond the sporting arena, and includes the school yard, playground, park, street, recreational site, and home; excludes non-accidental violence, assault, and passenger vehicle road trauma; may include falls; and age-group terminology includes Toddlers and Young Children (1-4 years), Children (5-12 years), and Adolescents (13 to < 18 years). Sport and exercise categories and individual examples are provided. CONCLUSIONS: This consensus definition of sport and exercise in paediatrics for concussion research and management will enable researchers and guideline development groups to expand paediatric concussion research and management guidelines to encompass the broad range of activities commonly associated with sport- and exercise-related concussion in children and adolescents and thus limit exclusion of relevant studies from systematic reviews and guideline development.

APA Citation

Davis, Gavin A.; Anderson, Nicholas; Babl, Franz E.; Ballard, Dustin W.; Barlow, Karen M.; Barrett, Michael J.; Beauchamp, Miriam H.; Borland, Meredith L.; Bressan, Silvia; Crowe, Louise; Chong, Shu-Ling; Corwin, Daniel J.; Dalziel, Stuart R.; Emery, Carolyn A.; Fauteux-Lamarre, Emmanuelle; Gioia, Gerard A.; Haarbauer-Krupa, Juliet; Kirkwood, Michael W.; Löllgen, Ruth Mari; Master, Christina L.; McKinlay, Audrey; Olver, John; Mintegi, Santiago; Pavlicich, Viviana; Purcell, Laura; Raman, Radhika; Rino, Pedro; Suskauer, Stacy J.; Shavit, Itai; Tavender, Emma J.; van Ierssel, Jacqueline; and Yeates, Keith Owen, "International Consensus Definition of 'Sport & Exercise' in Toddlers and Young Children, Children, and Adolescents" (2025). GW Authored Works. Paper 6563.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/6563

Department

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences