Sergi Darder and the Physical Activity and Health Unit of the Consell de Mallorca have collaborated ahead of the registration for the 2024-2025 medical check-ups to offer young sportsmen and women between the ages of six and 16 a package of 12,000 examinations free of charge.
Our midfielder is leading the campaign to promote sporting health as the president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés; the councillor for the Environment, Rural Affairs and Sports, Pedro Bestard, and the CEO of RCD Mallorca Business, Alfonso Díaz, presented the campaign at the Palau del Consell.
The aim is to improve preventive medicine, extend coverage to federations and clubs, and bring services closer to local councils in a more direct and extensive manner.
The president of the Consell has pointed out that “sports medicine has a preventive sense, and the best prevention is to have a medical check-up appropriate to each age and in each modality.” He added that “the message of Sergi Darder, a reference among children and young athletes, is a reference to understand that in sport all preventive aspects count."
The Consell de Mallorca has four active care points in Mallorca to carry out check-ups, which are open in the afternoons to facilitate access to the majority of young athletes, clubs and families, as well as an increased the number of complementary examinations, which are prescribed if any pathology is detected.
The second vice-president and sports councillor Pedro Bestard said: “we are aware of the importance of promoting health in the population, with prevention and the detection of possible pathologies in early adolescence being of particular importance.”
The Consell's medical check-ups include cardiorespiratory, postural and functional assessments. If pathologies are detected, a referral is made for a specific examination with the appropriate specialists. Cardiorespiratory assessment can detect respiratory or cardiological problems, and can help in the diagnosis of cardiac pathologies associated with sudden death. Postural assessment is important mainly at the age of growth, because cartilages are open and misalignments of the lower limbs, spine, hip or knee alterations may imply vicious positions or overload injuries.
In the 2023-24 season, almost 4,000 check-ups were carried out, mostly for sports such as handball, adapted sports, canoeing, athletics, volleyball, wrestling (EBE) and tennis. The evaluation surveys carried out with users show a high degree of satisfaction with the check-up (maximum score of 10), 88% of the users surveyed, or other aspects such as the attention of the health staff (94%) or the waiting times (84%).
The campaign against obesity
Perhaps one of the most surprising figures from the results of the 2023-24 season is that eight per cent of athletes have a BMI that falls within the parameters that could be considered as obesity. In this sense, the Consell is launching a campaign parallel to the promotion of medical check-ups which, under the title ‘Natural-Mente’, will provide advice and educational materials for young schoolchildren on nutrition and sport to prevent obesity: from reading nutritional labels, to the selection of foods and the reduction of various products in the diet.
This campaign will reach the classrooms of various selected secondary schools to develop a quarterly project with adolescent students.
Physical Activity and Health Unit (UAFiS)
For further information, please contact the website https://esports.conselldemallorca.es/es/medicina-deportiva.eso, the e-mail address medesport@conselldemallorca.net or telephone 971 173 648.
