Children's Safety: Strollers Or Carriers Injure An Average Of Two Toddlers An Hour

Children face the risk of being injured when they are transported using strollers or carriers. Findings of a study have shown that from 1990 to 2010, there was an average of two American children every hour treated in emergency departments for injuries related to strollers or carriers. This amounted to a total of nearly 361,000 children aged five years and below who were injured.

According to a report in Science Daily, 67 percent of children fell from strollers and 63 percent fell from carriers. Strollers that tipped over caused 16 percent of injuries, while it was 29 percent for carriers that tipped over. Head injuries from strollers accounted for 43 percent while 62 percent had head injuries from carriers. Strollers caused 31 percent of face injuries while carriers caused 25 percent of injuries.

Many injuries resulted in bumps and bruises, the report said, but 25 percent of injuries from strollers and 35 percent of injuries from carriers led to traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) or concussions. According to a report in Live Science, an increase of TBIs and concussions was seen, spiking from 19 percent in 1990 to 42 percent in 2010 for strollers and 18 percent to 53 percent in carriers in the same years.

The researchers from the Nationwide Children's Hospital were quoted in the report as saying that this jump from 1990 to 2010 may have been caused by an increased awareness of these types of injuries. There might not have been an actual increase in the rate of cases of TBIs or concussions in children related to strollers and carriers during the study period.

"The good news for parents who rely on strollers and carriers is that new federal mandatory safety standards for these products address many of the risks to children identified in this study," said U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Elliot Kaye, as per CNN. The study was published in the journal Academic Pediatrics.