WHO KNEW?

Cheerleading: The Most Dangerous Sport

Brutal injuries on sidelines of the big game.

The high-impact tackles on the gridiron, the ankle-breakers on the basketball court, all pale in comparison to the dangers inherent in... cheerleading? A new study by the National Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio has found that the most "catastrophic injuries" (usually involving spinal cord damage) came from cheerleading accidents. The study also found that over a 10-year period, physical education-related injuries have skyrocketed by 150 percent. Researchers attributed the jump in injuries to an unbalanced student-teacher ratio, along with a shortage of nurses at schools. Still, the report says, the minor risk involved in physical education far outweighs the "long-term effects of inactivity."