Safest Youth Football Helmets

Helmets are meant to protect your head from injury while performing activities that present the potential for blows to the head. Due to the intense contact of football, helmets are standard requirement for the sport. However, even helmets that pass national standards for safety may not protect against common head injuries. A few companies have developed helmets that may provide an improved level of safety.

National Safety Standards

The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment is the organization responsible for setting and testing standards for football helmets. The standards, in effect since the 1970s, helped eliminate deaths of football players due to skull fractures. Helmets that meet the standards of the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment bear the organization's seal and a statement that they meet the standards.

Concussions

National standards for football helmets are set to prevent skull fractures and fatal head wounds, but do not take into consideration protection against concussions, which are harmful, can be fatal and much more common, according to Alan Schwarz of "The New York Times." "An estimated 100,000 concussions are reported each season among high school players alone," Schwarz wrote. "But many times that figure are believed to go unreported or unrecognized."

Trade-Off

The stiff plastic helmets approved by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment to prevent skull fractures, do not protect well against concussions, according to Edward Tenner of "The Atlantic." Some helmets on the market may help prevent both types of injury, although the majority do not. In addition, according to Schwarz, many youth football players wear used helmets, which may no longer provide adequate fracture protection due to their age.

Innovative designs

While it seems clear that new helmets are generally safer than old ones. Some helmet models that may do better than others at providing protection from concussions and fractures. Xenith, a helmet manufacturing company, sells helmets with air-filled padding that may provide more protection against concussions than standard helmets. Schutt, another company, uses padding made from plastic, which they claim may reduce concussion injuries. In 2002, Riddell, another helmet manufacturing company, developed a model it claims may reduce concussion risks by 31 percent. Despite these claims, only Riddell has reported formal testing for their helmets and there is no conclusive clinical evidence that these helmets will prevent or decrease head injuries.