Soccer injuries on the rise among children

The safer sport?Soccer injuries are on the rise among children.The American Academy of Pediatrics reports girls tend to suffer more knee injuries, which can be prevented to some extent by knee-strengthening programs.Boys tend to suffer more ankle injuries.Concussions are common in soccer, comparable to other contact sports.Researchers suggest enforcing the rules of the game to discourage overly aggressive or dangerous play.Circulation check Two events to promote good health are coming up in Crystal Lake.For $35, the McHenry County Department of Health will check total cholesterol (HDL and LDL), blood sugar, triglycerides, blood pressure and body composition.Appointments and a 12-hour fast beforehand are required. The tests are offered from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, at McHenry County College, 8900 Northwest Highway, Crystal Lake.Register at (815) 334-4536.Also Feb. 18, women may get free health screenings, a light lunch, and a cooking demonstration by TV chef Kathleen Daelemans at Centegra Health System's 4th annual Health Strong Women. It's from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn.Participants can have blood pressure and body mass index testing, diabetes screenings and bra fittings, and, for $129, vascular screening for atherosclerosis risk. Register at centegra.org/healthstrong or call (877) 236-8347.Health scholarshipsCentral DuPage Hospital is offering scholarships for those seeking careers in health care.Scholarships are for high school, college and graduate students in the hospital's primary service area, listed on the application at cdh.org.Submissions are due by March 31.For more information, contact ScholarChair@cdh.org.Uterine monitoringInternal monitoring of uterine activity during labor does not improve outcomes for the mother or child in induced or augmented delivery, new research indicates.Researchers in the Netherlands checked 1,500 women and found that whether or not they had internal monitoring, they had the same rate of caesarean and vaginal deliveries.There were also no significant differences in secondary outcomes, such as use of antibiotics or admitting the baby into the hospital.The report, in the New England Journal of Medicine, concludes that the findings do not support the routine use of internal monitoring, called tocodynamometry.