Many parents allow children to get on to shopping carts but this is a dangerous practice. A recent study reveals that on an average around 66 children get hurt in a day from falls and spills from shopping carts.
The study jointly conducted by the researchers at Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital shows that reported cases of child injuries linked to shopping carts have increased in recent years.
On an average more than 24,00,0 children are admitted to emergency departments annually, which means 66 children a day or one child in every 22 minutes suffers an injury .
The researchers based their findings on details collected on patients below 15 admitted to emergency departments between 1990 and 2011. Around 530, 494 injured children made ED visits during the study period. 70.4 percent of the cases reported during the period were about children, between two and four, who had tumbled down from their shopping carts. The other major injuries reported were related to running into/falling over the cart and carts tipping over.
Parents busy in their shopping often tend to leave their children alone on the shopping carts. Little ones trying to reach out to attractive items around them may easily fall down from the cart. The centre of gravity is high for the infants and with their little, weaker arms the children can hardly resist their fall or injuries, reports NBC news
Head injuries were most commonly reported within the study period. However, close head and concussions spiked by 200 percent during the period. Around 12,333 cases close head injury cases were reported in 2011 compared to 3,483 cases in 1990.
Despite stringent shopping cart standards enacted in 2004 the situation has not got any better. Instead, child injury cases saw a steep rise over the period.
"Not only have the overall number of child injuries associated with shopping carts not decreased since implementation of the safety standards, but the number of concussions and closed head injuries is actually increasing," said Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in a press release. "It is time we take action to protect our children by strengthening shopping cart safety standards with requirements that will more effectively prevent tip-overs and falls from shopping carts."
The researchers have suggested a few preventive measures to bring down such incidents. Parents should opt for shopping carts that are closer to the ground, which reduce the chances of tip-over. Children on the shopping carts should always be seated, tied to their safety belts. More employees should be hired in shopping centers to see that safety measures are implemented.
Above and all the parents need to be more vigilant when their kids are on shopping carts.
