Living in the Sunshine State, water safety has always been important to our family. I remember learning how to rescue someone, and how to swim safely out of an ocean rip, as a young child. I grew up in a farming community, and my brothers and I always knew if we went near the dam […]
Category: children
Controversial ad during US Super Bowl broadcast
American football’s championship game, the Super Bowl, was played last Sunday (those of us based in Seattle would rather not dwell on the result). The game was the most watched telecast in U.S. history, with an estimated 114.4 million viewers. Not surprisingly, this huge audience is an advertising jackpot – the revenue from this year’s game exceeded 330 million U.S. dollars. An […]
Preventing clothing-related burns in children
Burn injuries are dreadful for any person of any age, but arguably they are most horrific for our most vulnerable: children. In Australia as in many other countries, we have mandatory standards which regulate the design and labelling of children’s nightwear. Having grown up in a rural area where we heated our house (our melted marshmallows and […]
High school start and finish times
High school start and finish times can be a controversial topic! A quick search of school start and finish times in Queensland, Australia, my home ground, sees a range of start times generally between 8.20-9.00am, and a range of finish times generally between 2.30-3.30pm. High school start and finish times can be controversial indeed if you have […]
Children and injury prevention
I read an interesting article recently, in which the authors explored the burden of sport- and exercise-related injury in children aged 14 years or less. The frequency, years lived with disability, bed-days, and direct hospital costs were explored for non-fatally injured, hospital-treated children treated in a private or public hospital in Victoria (Australia) over a seven-year period. Finch, […]
The Benefits of Aggressive Play
Is aggressive play or roughhousing something that models and facilitates violent behavior or are there benefits and if so, what are those benefits? A recently story on NPR summarizes some of the research that highlights the potential benefits of roughhousing , even forms that involve pretend violence. http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/06/25/325218402/what-kids-can-learn-from-a-water-balloon-fight I found the reported potential benefits of […]
Poorly-fitted child seats an injury waiting to happen
Thinking about the recalls yesterday, particularly those related to child seats, reminded me of a recent story I read recently. A 2013 survey of over 10,000 child seats in England, Wales and Scotland revealed that 60% of the child seats were poorly-fitted (see http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/470156/Millions-of-infants-at-risk-60-per-cent-of-all-child-seats-not-fitted-safely). One poorly-fitted child seat is a problem, let alone 6,000 in […]
Low speed vehicle run-over incidents remain in the spotlight
PubMed abounds with articles exploring the epidemiology of low speed vehicle run-overs (e.g., doi: 10.1136/ip.2010.030304; 10.1111/jpc.12188; 10.1111/wvn.12014; 10.1136/injuryprev-2013-040932; 10.1186/1471-2458-14-245; 10.1186/1471-2458-14-245). The devastating consequences of low speed vehicle run-over incidents has led to a plethora of suggested intervention and ‘tips’ for parents and others interested in child and infant injury prevention (for example, http://www.kidsafewa.com.au/drivewaysafety.html; http://www.safekids.org.nz/index.php/page/driveway-run-over-kit-locations; http://www.keepyourchildsafe.org/child-safety-book/child-driveway-accidents.html). In addition, […]
The next frontier in protecting children from recreational marijuana in Colorado
The U.S. state of Colorado operationalized the legalization of recreational marijuana at the beginning of this year. You can now walk into one of 34 marijuana dispensaries in the state and buy a diversity of marijuana products that range from just buds (which you smoke) to all kinds of edible products. The options go far […]
Choking: Super scary when you are the victim
Today I am writing more of a sharing-scary-experience blog, and some of my findings after a quick stickybeak on the internet. Last night with my evening meal, I had corn as one of my 2-and-5 (for those outside Australia, a public health promotion encourages each Australian to eat two serves of fruit and five serves […]