UW study: Limiting full contact during high school football practice cuts down on concussions

MADISON -- A University of Wisconsin study has found limiting full contact during high school football practice is helping to cut down on concussions.

The WIAA limited full contact during practices in 2014, so UW researchers studied concussion rates in the two years prior to the law taking effect.

They found the number of concussions last year was half what it was in the years before.

"Let's do things to prevent all of these, because they all have a lingering effect down the road and parents are surprised that when you show the statistics, their son or daughter is much more likely to have a significant knee or ankle injury than ever having a concussion," Tim McGuine with the UW School of Medicine and Public Health said.

Researchers hope their work can be used to see not only the impact from concussions, but also for other injuries such as sprains, fractures and dislocation.

Their work was presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting in Washington, D.C.