On the Field

A guide to concussions as kids head back into school sports

The start of a new school year will be here before you know it, and with it comes the beginning of fall sports (particularly football if you're in Texas).

As parents, kids, and coaches prepare for a new academic year and sports season, the world-renowned experts at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children recommend everyone brush up on recognizing the signs and symptoms of sports-related concussions. More importantly, be sure you know the best way to respond.

Scottish Rite Hospital sports medicine physicians Shane M. Miller, M.D. and Jane S. Chung, M.D. discuss what to watch out for this fall.

What is a concussion?
A concussion is a brain injury that generally occurs from a fall or sudden blow to the head, neck, or body. Shaking of the brain inside the skull damages cells, which causes chemical changes that disrupt normal brain function.

Signs and symptoms of a concussion
You may suspect that your young athlete has a concussion if they appear dazed, stunned, confused, or even lose consciousness. Physical symptoms of a concussion include headache, nausea, dizziness, and blurred or double vision.

Dr. Miller says the symptoms might worsen after several minutes, hours, or sometimes days. The athlete might feel okay at the time of the injury, but over the next few days, the injury evolves.

When in doubt, sit them out
One of the most common mistakes is returning a young athlete to the field too early. If a young athlete is complaining of any of the signs and symptoms of a concussion, Dr. Miller recommends that it's safest to remove them from play immediately. The "tough it out" mentality could prolong recovery and make them more susceptible to a more severe injury.

Young brains take longer to recover than adult brains. After a head injury, the sports medicine experts at Scottish Rite Hospital can help determine if and when the young athlete is ready to return to play.

Get a good night's sleep
Sleep is imperative to proper development in children and teens, and not getting enough of it is associated with increased injuries and other health problems. But if your child has a concussion, good sleep may help reduce their symptom severity and decrease the length of their recovery. Dr. Chung encourages at least 9-10 hours of sleep for a pediatric patient during concussion recovery, and emphasizes improving quality sleep by limiting screen exposure for at least an hour before bed.

How to decide if a child is ready to go back to sports
Return to sports decisions are considered once symptoms are under control and the child is tolerating school. Evaluation of motor skills — balance, speed, coordination — and neurocognitive abilities — memory, problem-solving, reaction time, attention span — are helpful to determine readiness for sports. Returning to sports too soon is dangerous and can cause longer symptom duration or a more serious injury. When it's safe, a child is guided through a return-to-sport protocol appropriate for his or her sport.

What parents can do
Ask if your child's school athletic program provides athletes with pre-season baseline testing. If they do not, Scottish Rite Hospital's Center for Excellence in Sports Medicine offers computerized neurocognitive testing for athletes ages 10 and up. The results of this testing are helpful if your child sustains a concussion.

If you witness a bad hit or observe any of the signs and symptoms listed above in your athlete or their teammates this season, say something. It takes the whole team to prevent concussions and long-term injuries.

For more information, visit Scottish Rite Hospital's website.

Know how to recognize the signs and symptoms of a concussion.

Photo courtesy of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

Know how to recognize the signs and symptoms of a concussion.

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population report

Booming Dallas suburb was the fastest-growing city in the U.S. in 2024

City of Dallas - City Hall/Facebook

Dallas' population has grown to nealry 1.33 million residents.

The Dallas suburb of Princeton grew faster than any other city in the United States in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The new population report said Princeton's population has more than doubled in the last five years. The city saw a dramatic growth rate of 30.6 percent from July 2023 to July 2024, now boasting a population of just over 37,000 residents. The suburb is located 42 miles northeast from downtown Dallas.

The report also revealed Dallas retained its No. 9 spot on the list of the 15 most populous cities in the U.S. Dallas gained more than 23,000 residents during the one-year period, bringing the city's population to 1,326,087 people in 2024.

Elsewhere across North Texas, Fort Worth surpassed 1 million residents and eclipsed Austin as the 11th largest city in the nation. Fort Worth had the fifth-highest numeric increase in population last year, 23,442 residents, to bring the city's total population to 1,008,106 residents.

Houston and San Antonio were the only Texas cities to have higher numerical growth rates than Fort Worth. Houston gained 43,217 residents – the second-highest increase nationwide – while San Antonio ranked No. 4 in growth with an additional 23,945 residents.

Austin has yet to surpass the 1 million population threshold and has a population of 993,588 residents, the report says. The city now ranks 13th on the list of most populous U.S. cities after ranking 11th in 2024.

Sandwiched between No. 11-Fort Worth and No. 13-Austin is San Jose, California, whose population of 997,368 puts it in the 12-largest spot.

Fastest growing U.S. cities
Six additional Texas cities made the list of fastest-growing U.S. cities, with several in the DFW Metroplex:

Fulshear, near Houston (No. 2) with 26.7 percent growth (54,629 total population)
Celina (No. 4) with 18.2 percent growth (51,661 total population)
Anna (No. 5) with 14.6 percent growth (31,986 total population)
Fate (No. 8) with 11.4 percent growth (27,467 total population)
Melissa (No. 11) with 10 percent growth (26,194 total population)
Hutto, near Austin (No. 13) with 9.4 percent growth (42,661 total population)

The Austin suburb of Georgetown's growth has continued to slow since 2023, and it no longer appears in the list of fastest-growing cities. However, it did surpass 100,000 residents in 2024.

San Angelo, a small city in West Texas, also surpassed the 100,000-population threshold.

Most populous U.S. cities in 2024
New York City maintained its stronghold as the biggest in America in 2024, boasting a population of nearly 8.5 million residents. Los Angeles and Chicago also retained second and third place, with respective populations of nearly 3.88 million and more than 2.7 million residents.

"Cities in the Northeast that had experienced population declines in 2023 are now experiencing significant population growth, on average," said Crystal Delbé, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. "In fact, cities of all sizes, in all regions, showed faster growth and larger gains than in 2023, except for small cities in the South, whose average population growth rate remained the same."

The 15 populous U.S. cities as of July 1, 2024 were:

No. 1 – New York, New York (8.48 million)
No. 2 – Los Angeles, California (3.88 million)
No. 3 – Chicago, Illinois (2.72 million)
No. 4 – Houston, Texas (2.39 million)
No. 5 – Phoenix, Arizona (1.67 million)
No. 6 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1.57 million)
No. 7 – San Antonio, Texas (1.53 million)
No. 8 – San Diego, California (1.4 million)
No. 9 – Dallas, Texas (1.33 million)
No. 10 – Jacksonville, Florida (1 million)
No. 11 – Fort Worth, Texas (1 million)
No. 12 – San Jose, California (997,368)
No. 13 – Austin, Texas (993,588)
No. 14 – Charlotte, North Carolina (943,476)
No. 15 – Columbus, Ohio (933,263)

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