The necessity of supervising the health of children engaged in sports activities – ethical aspects

Djeca su nerijetko, osobito u športskim natjecanjima, sredstvo i/ili oruđe odraslih za postizanje nekih ‚uzvišenijih\u27 ciljeva (pobjeda, rekord, priznanje, ugled, pehar, medalja itd.), pri čemu često bude narušeno i zdravlje dječjeg organizma koji je u rastu i razvoju. U tom razdoblju dječji organizam je, naime, osobito ranjiv i podložan bolestima, tjelesnim oštećenjima i ozljedama, stoga se potreba zdravstvenog nadzora djece (razvoja njihova tijela i duha, razvoja njih kao osoba, njihove osobnosti i individualnosti s jedne strane, a športskih karakteristika s druge) uključenog u športske aktivnosti nameće kao imperativ. Zdravlje mora biti temeljna, nezamjenjiva, stalna i neraskidiva poveznica svakog športaša, od njegovog prvog športskog koraka, do, tko zna, osvojene olimpijske medalje.Children, especially those participating in sports competition, sometimes become objects and/or tools for adults, with excuse that it is necessary for accomplishment of some \u27higher\u27 goals (victory, record, acknowledgement, reputation, trophy, medal...). Very often, with this activities, children\u27s health is endangered and/or violated. It happens often when the children are in the period of intensive growth and development, their health is more vulnerable and is a subject to disease, but in sports competitions, insuffi cient attention is brought to this fact. Because of that, we recommend medical follow-ups for all children involved in sport (physical and mental development, personal development, their personalities and individual characteristics on the one hand and sport characteristics on the other) as an imperative. Health must be basic, irreplaceable, permanent and unbreakable connection within every athlete, from his/her first sports step to the (possible) Olympic medal