Youth football helmets currently undergo the same impact testing and must satisfy the same criteria as varsity helmets, although youth football players differ from their adult counterparts in anthropometry, physiology, and impact exposure. This study aimed to relate football helmet standards testing to on-field head impact magnitudes for youth and varsity football helmets. Head impact data, filtered to include only impacts to locations in the current National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment standard, were collected for 48 collegiate players (ages 18–23 years) and 25 youth players (ages 9–11 years) using helmet-mounted accelerometer arrays. These on-field data were compared to a series of National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment standard drop tests with a youth and varsity Riddell Speed helmet. In the on-field data, the adult players had a higher frequency of impact than the youth players, and a significant difference in head acceleration magnitude only existed at the top location (p < 0.001). In the laboratory drop tests, the only significant difference between the youth and varsity helmets was at the 3.46 m/s (61 cm) impact to the front location (p = 0.0421). Drop tests generated head accelerations within the top 10% of measured on-field impacts, at all locations and drop heights, demonstrating that drop tests are representative of the most severe head impacts experienced by youth and adult football players on the field. Current standards have been very effective at eliminating skull fracture and severe brain injury in both populations. This analysis suggests that there is not currently a need for a youth-specific drop test standard. However, there may be such a need if helmet testing standards are updated to address concussion, paired with a better understanding of differences in concussion tolerance between youth and adult populations.

中文翻译：

---

与场上撞击相关的足球头盔撞击标准

尽管青少年足球运动员在人体测量学、生理学和撞击暴露方面与成年球员不同，但目前青少年足球头盔接受了相同的冲击测试，并且必须满足与大学头盔相同的标准。本研究旨在将橄榄球头盔标准测试与青年和大学橄榄球头盔的现场头部撞击强度联系起来。收集了 48 名使用头盔的大学生运动员（18-23 岁）和 25 名青年运动员（9-11 岁）的头部撞击数据，过滤后仅包括当前国家运动装备标准操作委员会标准中对位置的影响-安装的加速度计阵列。将这些现场数据与国家运动设备标准运营委员会的一系列运动设备标准跌落测试进行了比较，其中包括青少年和大学队 Riddell Speed 头盔。在场上数据中，成年球员比青年球员有更高的撞击频率，并且头部加速度大小的显着差异仅存在于顶部位置（p < 0.001）。在实验室跌落测试中，青年头盔和大学头盔之间的唯一显着差异是对正面位置的 3.46 m/s (61 cm) 冲击 (p = 0.0421)。跌落测试在所有位置和跌落高度的前 10% 的实测现场冲击中产生了头部加速度，这表明跌落测试代表了青年和成人足球运动员在场上所经历的最严重的头部撞击。目前的标准在消除这两个人群的颅骨骨折和严重脑损伤方面非常有效。该分析表明，目前不需要针对青少年的跌落测试标准。但是，如果更新头盔测试标准以解决脑震荡问题，同时更好地了解青年和成人人群之间的脑震荡耐受性差异，则可能会有这样的需求。