New Walkers Safer, but Pediatricians Still Want Them BannedBy Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDMarch 7, 2006 — Baby walker injuries are way down — but the walkers should be on the way out, a new study concludes.
Invented some 250 years ago, baby walkers make infants mobile — too mobile, pediatricians say. From 1990 through 2001, baby walker injuries sent nearly 200,000 U.S. babies to emergency rooms. Three out of four of these babies fell down stairs. Most suffered head wounds. Some died.
In 1994, parents got an alternative: stationary activity centers that let kids bounce and swivel and tip without going anywhere. And in 1997, all U.S. walkers had to meet new design standards. Either they had to be too wide to fit through a standard doorway, or they had to have a braking feature that stops the walker at the edge of a step.
Both strategies worked, find Brenda J. Shields and Gary A. Smith, DrPH, of the Center for Injury Research at Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
“There was a 76% decrease in the number of infant-walker-related injuries that were treated in U.S. emergency departments from 1990 through 2001, with a marked decrease occurring between 1994 and 2001,” Shields and Smith write.
The study appears in the March issue of Pediatrics.
Most New Injuries From Old Baby Walkers
The drop in injuries beginning in 1994 shows that parents were turning away from walkers in favor of stationary activity centers, Shields and Smith say. Until then, there had been some 23,000 baby-walker-related injuries each year.
And after 1997, a lot fewer babies were falling down stairs in their walkers — suggesting that the design changes had an effect. In fact, most of the recent stairway falls happened with older walkers that did not meet the new standard.
But why take any risk?
“Infant walkers serve no essential purpose,” Shields and Smith write. “Infant walkers do not help a child learn to walk, and, in fact, they can delay normal motor and mental development.”
The researchers note that Canada now bans baby walkers. Canadian consumers face fines of up to $100,000 or six months in jail if found in possession of a baby walker, they note.
“Therefore, the U.S. government should follow the lead of the Canadian government and ban the sale, importation, and advertisement of mobile infant walkers in the United States to prevent additional infant-walker-related injuries from occurring to young children,” Shields and Smith argue.
In this, they have powerful support. The American Academy of Pediatrics continues its call for a baby-walker ban.
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20060307/baby-walker-injuries-drop
Ringkasan
1. Daripada tahun 1990-2001, sebanyak 200,000 kecederaan kanak-kanak dilaporkan di AS berkait dengan baby walker. 3/4 daripada kes-kes ini disebabkan jatuh tangga.
2. Pada tahun 1997, AS menetapkan garis panduan kepada ciri dan reka bentuk baby walker seperti ianya mesti besar supaya tidak boleh melepasi pintu atau tangga, dan mempunyai alat penahan (brake) apabila hendak terjatuh. Selepas tahun 1997, semakin kurang bayi yang terjatuh dari tangga. Malah, kebanyakan kejadian jatuh tangga hanya melibatkan reka bentuk walker yang lama (tidak menepati garis panduan). Adakah baby walker anak anda mempunyai ciri-ciri garis panduan ini?
3. Tetapi, mengapa ingin mengambil risiko? Kerana padahal, walker tidak mempunyai sebarang kegunaan. Malah, ia tidak membantu kanak-kanak untuk berjalan dan ia juga melambatkan sistem tumbesaran motor, otot dan mental.
4. Di Kanada, hukuman denda dan penjara dijatuhkan kepada mereka yang mempunyai baby walker. Di AS juga, para pakar kanak-kanak menggalakkan pengharaman baby walker.
Satu lagi artikel menarik daripada Eropah: http://www.capt.org.uk/pdfs/factsheet%20baby%20walkers.pdf
1. Garis panduan reka bentuk walker di Eropah telah diperbaharui pada tahun 2005. Walker direka agar tidak bergerak laju dan ianya sepatutnya berhenti (brake) apabila hendak terjatuh.
2. Jenis-jenis kecederaan kanak-kanak yang melibatkan baby walker: terjatuh tangga, kecederaan kepala, kebakaran air panas (mencapai cerek atau air panas di atas meja), mencapai objek tajam di tempat tinggi, keracunan (mencapai minyak wangi dan alkohol).
3. Walker mengajar anak-anak berjalan adalah mitos di kalangan ibu bapa sahaja. Merangkak, duduk, berguling dan bermain blok adalah lebih untuk pembentukan minda dan fizikal.
4. Walaupun sesetengah ibu bapa mengatakan walker selamat digunakan semasa kehadiran ibu bapa, tetapi kebanyakan kecederaan berlaku dengan pantas di depan ibu bapa dan anak mereka tidak dapat diselamatkan (70% daripada kes di AS).
5. Di Kanada, penjualan baby walker telah diharamkan sepenuhnya.
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