For generations, when the weather gets warm, kids are ready to roll on wheels. From bikes to skateboards, from roller skates to scooters, these wheeled sports have both evolved and remained popular throughout the years. Besides serving as a way for children to play and to get around town, they also are increasingly being encouraged as a way for children to stay active and fit.1 While the wheeled sports have remained popular, safety efforts have grown by leaps and bounds — but every day, children are still getting injured in ways that could have been prevented. Children 14 years and under, and particularly those under age 10, are at greater risk for a fall when on wheels because they have a higher center of gravity, are less developed physically and have poor balance compared to adults. They also have slower reactions and are less coordinated than adults, leading to being less able to break their falls.2-3 Finally, children typically overestimate their skills and abilities and are less experienced in judging speed, traffic and other risks.2,4-5 Nearly 50 children an hour are taken to an emergency department with an injury related to the four wheeled sports we studied. And while bicycling injuries have been declining, other wheeled sports, such as scootering, have seen an increase in injuries. As a result, it is not a matter of “if” children will fall, but rather how to protect them from serious injury when they do. Helmets and other protective gear are proven ways to decrease both the likelihood and severity of an injury. Safe Kids Worldwide undertook an in-depth analysis of current patterns of injury and parents’ beliefs and behaviours related to keeping children safe during four wheeled sports: bicycling, scootering, skating and skateboarding. The study was made possible with support from Nationwide’s Make Safe Happen program, which is dedicated to reducing child injuries in and around the home. We found that: • While helmet use has increased over the past few decades, nearly 4 in 10 parents of children ages 5-14 years say their child still does not always wear a helmet while riding; • Younger children were reported as being more likely to wear their helmet than older children, at 67 percent of 5-9 year olds and 61 percent of 10-14 year olds; • Helmets were reported as the piece of safety equipment most likely to be worn by all children; and • Parent helmet use was strongly associated with increased helmet use by children while bicycling — among parents who say they always wear a helmet while riding a bike, 86 percent say their children do the same, but among parents who say they never wear a helmet, only 38 percent report that their children always wear one themselves. These results suggest a need to ensure parents understand the very real risk of injury during wheeled sports and the mediating effect that protective gear can have. The survey findings suggest that some parents may be underestimating the risk because they view their child as an experienced rider or believe that the area where their child participates in the activity is not dangerous. Yet even experienced riders can and do fall, and even though many of the locations where children ride or roll do not involve motor vehicles, they still involve hard surfaces that can cause injury when the head strikes the ground. Parents may not realize that serious and even fatal injuries also occur away from traffic, and that those injuries are most often head injuries. To stay safe while riding, parents and children should: • Wear a properly fitted helmet for every ride — they are the best way to prevent head injuries and death in the event of a crash. • Ride in safe locations like sidewalks, bike paths or bike lanes whenever possible. • Follow the rules of the road. • Check all equipment at the start or end of every season. • Ride with your children until you are comfortable with them riding on their own. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting