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In the 1970s, a time when the market for baby walkers was in full swing, babies arrived almost daily in the ER after falling out of walkers with injuries such as fractures, concussions and fractures of the skull. "We were constantly telling parents not to use them," said Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Injury Research and Policy Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
If you are not familiar, trotters are wheeled devices that allow children to push themselves before they can walk. Once they start, they can collide with objects – or down stairs. According to a new study published in the newspaper, in the early 1990s, some 20,000 children presented themselves in emergency rooms every year with injuries. Pediatrics.
Over the last two decades, safety standards, such as ensuring that walkers are wider than door frames so children can not just fall down the stairs, have come into effect. And savvy companies have been offering safer alternatives (like fixed business centers) since then. Thus, the injuries related to the walkers have decreased considerably.
However, each year approximately 2,000 children are treated in US emergency rooms for walker-related injuries. Pediatrics study found.
The danger of the trotter has disappeared in Canada. This is because Canada decided long ago that it was not enough to reduce the risk of trotters – it had to be eliminated.
A government review of the wounds associated with walkers found that children fell down the stairs, turned around and crashed into the hot stoves of these devices. In April 2004, Health Canada, the government's health regulator, banned the sale of trotters. Persons caught in the act of selling or importing baby walkers – even those that are used – are liable to a fine of $ 100,000 or even imprisonment. Try to cross the border with a walker, and you will face detention.
The measurements may seem extreme, but they worked. And pediatricians here want the US regulators to follow Canada's example.
Will the ban on walkers reach America?
In the new Pediatrics report, Smith and his co-authors note the huge drop in wounded-related injuries during the study period, between 1990 and 2014. But even 2,000 children arriving each year in the halls of urgency because walkers are still too numerous.
"Walker-related injuries can be serious and can include skull fractures, brain damage, burns, poisoning and drowning," the authors wrote. An earlier study found that between 2004 and 2008, walkers were involved in eight pediatric deaths.
Baby walkers are often sold to parents as devices that help children walk independently earlier, although the evidence suggests that they may delay the start of walking. And not only are they not helpful in developing a baby, but they can also be extremely dangerous.
According to the study, most of the wounds associated with walkers – 90% – in the emergency room involved the head or neck and three quarters were caused by babies in walkers falling down the stairs. Five percent of the children had to be hospitalized because their injuries were so severe.
"We now know what the remaining burden is for walkers," said Smith, one of the newspaper's authors, at Vox, "and the next step is to eliminate the problem."
When I asked why the United States had not yet followed Canada's lead, he said it was a matter of philosophy. The United States decided that its approach would be "risk reduction", rather than dragging the government into a ban, while Canada felt the government needed to step in to eliminate the devices.
"Canada said," We know there is no benefit to using walkers. Babies can move up to 4 feet per second, well before they can control that or understand the dangers. Why are we putting children at risk when we know that when these injuries occur, they can put their lives at risk? "
For now, Smith has advised American parents to beware of walkers and opt for "good old days" diving. "Just put your baby on your stomach," he said. "They learn to get up and walk that way."
And do not try to get a walker to Canada.
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