Children's walkers remain a "preventable source of injuries" For young children. This is ratified by a study published in the journal 'Pediatrics'.
Its researchers and the American Academy of Pediatrics request a ban, a petition that joins the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP). They have been requesting their withdrawal for years because not only do they not teach the baby to walk but also They are dangerous.
The most affected: babies seven to ten months old
A new study of the Center for Research and Injury Policies of the National Children's Hospital of Columbus (Ohio) Nationwide Children's Hospital has evaluated the characteristics of injuries caused by child walkers.
According to research data, more than 230,000 children under fifteen months were treated in emergency rooms of hospitals in the United States because of injuries related to child walkers, between 1990 and 2014 (an average of more than 9,000 a year).
Most of the injuries affected children between seven and ten months of age.
"The good news is that the number of injuries related to child walkers has continued to decrease substantially over the past 25 years,"
explained Gary Smith, lead author of the study and director of the Center for Research and Injury Policy at the Children's National Hospital.
"However, it is important that families understand that these products continue to cause serious injuries to young children and should not be used."
In fact, still in 2014 (last year studied), some 2,000 children were injured when using a children's walker in United States.
The dangers of the walker
According to the study data, the majority of injuries (91%) were in the head or neck and include skull fractures and concussions.
The three main causes of injuries:
- falls down the stairs (74.1 percent);
- falls out of the walker (14.7 percent);
- injuries occurred because the walker gave the child access to something that he could not normally achieve: burns, poisoning and drowning (2.8%).
"Children's walkers provide rapid mobility for young children before they are ready for their development," Dr. Smith explains.
Also our partner Armando talked about the relationship between arched legs and walkers, and assured that its use does not influence the shape of our baby's legs.
But they do add other dangers: they are not only useless to teach walking, but they alter the natural motor development.
In case you didn't know, the walkers were created to help people who could not walk by age or an accident. Years later they became popular to teach babies to walk but it is different: adults had already learned to walk, while babies are not yet prepared to do so, physically or mentally.
We tell you all the dangers of the walkers in this video.
Pediatricians have been requesting a ban for years
These figures support the request of the American Academy of Pediatrics that has been requesting its ban for years. Until now, they have achieved that in 1997 a voluntary safety standard was adopted that required baby walkers to be wider than a standard door or to have a mechanism to stop it if one or more of the wheels rest on the edge of one step.
In June 2010, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission It included more stringent requirements for the design of children's walkers, standardized the evaluation method to prevent falls from the stairs and added a handbrake test.
But child walkers remain legal and accidents continue to occur. That is why the American Academy asks again to be banned, as Canada and Brazil already did. And the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) echoes this call, sharing it on their Twitter account.
The American Academy of Pediatrics requests a ban on walkers. //t.co/RECUbKs8VL
- AEP (@aepediatria) September 17, 2018
In fact, the AEP is blunt in stating that: "the best walker is the one that is not used". And they add that:
The walkers do not provide any benefit for children to learn to walk, and also multiply the risk of accidents"Therefore, we support the American Academy of Pediatrics to prohibit the manufacture, sale and import of children's walkers in the United States,"
The authors of the study conclude.
Photos | iStock
