New research shows that Kiwi women are undergoing surgery for knee injuries at a much younger age.
The research - published in the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Surgery - shows a 120 per cent increase in the number of 15- to 19-year-old girls having anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery.
The statistics stand out even more when looking at men, for whom the highest volume of the same surgery was in a 20- to 24-year-old age bracket, and only increased 36 per cent over the same time period.
The study, which ACC says analysed their data from 2000 - 2016, showed 76 per cent of these knee injuries were caused by sport, with netball, rugby and football accounting for the highest number of injuries.
“There are a number of factors that could increase the risk for girls and women. One is their anatomy," one of the study's authors Dr Simon Young said.
"For example, the shape of their femur [thigh bone] and hips are slightly different to men, which can put strain on the knees.
"The knees are also under more pressure from a biomechanical perspective because the way females land from jumps is different to males, as well as the way they run and load their knees."
However, injuries can be avoided by proper warm-up routines, according to Natalie Hardaker from ACC’s Injury Prevention team.
“Although these injuries are serious, they are also avoidable through good warm up programmes.
"These programmes are easy to integrate into training and can reduce the risk of ACL injuries up to 50 per cent.
“In New Zealand the ACC SportSmart warm-up programme, FIFA 11+ football warm-up and NetballSmart are really effective programmes that help reduce the risk of injury for females and males."
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