ATLANTA -- We have important health news for parents, especially if their girls play sports. New research says girls are more likely than boys to hurt their knees. Our Dr. Randy Martin explains why and how it can be prevented.

Soccer is a popular fall sport for boys and girls – but for girls, this activity and others, like basketball, volleyball and even gymnastics, makes them candidates to injure their knees – more than boys.

“It’s basically when you see them in basketball or soccer, it’s a non-contact injury they usually are landing and then they are falling over,” says Dr. John Xerogeanes, Chief of Sports Medicine at Emory.

In fact, a new study found that girls competing in soccer, basketball and even volleyball are 8 times more likely than males to tear their anterior cruciate ligament – or the ACL – in the knee.

“When it’s injured, it actually tears, and usually tears right in the middle or right near the top – it just tears in half,” says Dr. Xerogeanes.

Why are ACL injuries more common in girls?

First, in females, the thigh bone or the femur angles inward from the hip toward the knee more sharply than in men. So when a woman jumps or runs of the knee, it puts extra stress on it.

Secondly, women have what is known as muscle strength imbalance. That means the muscles on the front part of their thigh – the quadriceps muscle – is much more developed and stronger than the muscles in the back of the leg. So when females jump and land on the knee, the two sets of muscles do not balance each other out.

While surgery can repair the torn ACL, that doesn’t mean it can’t tear again.

To prevent ACL injuries, sports medicine experts are teaching females the proper way to land – by bending their knees, flex their hips and point their knees out – and to strengthen the muscles in their legs which help support the knee.

“I think at a young age if your daughter is involved in sports, you have to involve them in a true training program that works on pliability of the muscles, endurance of the muscles and strength,” says Dr. Xerogeanes.