WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Soccer is not 100% safe, but it is too soon to recommend using helmets or other safety measures to protect children who play it, an Institute of Medicine panel reported on Tuesday.

"Heading" a soccer ball does not usually cause enough trauma to injure a player's head, but children dashing around a soccer field can bash their heads together and more studies need to be done on the dangers, the panel found.

"Even though people generally think of soccer as a safer sport than (American) football, soccer players experience concussions about as often as football players," the Institute, which advises the federal government on health matters, said in its report on children's soccer issued on Tuesday.

"A soccer ball can hit the head with significant force, and there has been considerable debate over whether such 'heading' also fosters brain injury."

The report said that in light of the growing popularity of soccer in the United States, studies need to be done on just how dangerous playing the sport can be for children.

"Soccer is probably the most rapidly growing team sport in this country, especially for girls and women," the report said. Millions of children and adolescents participate in youth soccer leagues and there are hundreds of thousands of adolescents on high school soccer teams, it added.

Of particular concern were studies done in the Netherlands that suggest long-term brain deficits among soccer players, the panel found.

"The Dutch studies found that, compared to swimmers or track athletes, soccer players scored significantly lower on tests that measured visual and verbal memory, visual analysis and planning, and mental flexibility," the report said.

"Those test results suggest that these players would be slower at learning and remembering new material that they hear or see," it added, quoting neuropsychologist Dr. Muriel Lezak of Oregon Health Sciences University.

The report said there had been no published study to date that provides direct evidence that the practice of heading a soccer ball causes long-term deficits in mental functions.

University of North Carolina's Donald Kirkendall, a sports medicine specialist, is leading a five-year study now, the report said.

In the meantime, the report included the American Youth Soccer Organization's recommendation that children under 10 should not head the ball, although the organization continues to support the practice of purposeful heading for older soccer players.

Coaches and parents also need to become aware of the symptoms of concussion, it recommended.

The Institute's panel of neurological and behavioral health specialists issued the report after reviewing studies and reports from experts in October

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