when it comes to taking care of their children parents do not leave any stone unturned they make sure they eat well sleep well and engage in good physical activities for their overall health but have you ever given a thought to the risks involved while your kids go off to play no we do not mean the risks of any freak accident we mean the actual involvement in the sports that may pose a serious threat to your childs brainconfused let us enlighten youas you already know certain sports games are riskier to play as compared to others as per the findings from a longterm studyconducted by researchers at boston universityplaying tackle football before the age of 12 doubles the risk of behavioural and cognitive issues should you be worriedthis shocking findingwhich may prevent you from sending your kids to play footballwas the result of a new study conducted on 214 former athletes the researchers found that players who started playing before the age of 12 had a twofold risk of problems related to behavioural regulation and a threefold risk of clinically elevated depression scoreswhy does it happenaccording to one of the authors of the research studypublished in the journal natures translational psychiatryrobert stern the brain is going through this incredible time of growth between the years of 10 and 12 and if you subject that developing brain to repetitive head impacts it may cause problems later in lifeso no more footballthe eyeopening research also focuses on the fact that the football game retirees who started playing before the age of 12 had decreased mental flexibility when compared to those who began playing when they were 12 or olderthe bottom line is since the human brain rapidly develops during childhood it is best that your children should avoid playing tackle football at least during their teenage yearsthere are plenty of other sports available like basketball and running if you are worried about your childs physical fitness