Playground Injury Prevention Not Child's Play

Playground injury prevention is not child's play

Australian playground safety standards don't go far enough to protect kids from the most common type of injury - upper limb fracture.

This is a finding of a study published in the August issue of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia.

The study aimed to measure the effect voluntary Australian playground safety standards have had on the incidence of common injuries over the years.

"The early Australian standards focused on reducing the risk of head injuries, and they were very effective in doing that," said lead author Rebecca Mitchell, from the NSW Injury Management Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.

"However, while the incidence of head injuries has been decreasing over time, that of upper limb fractures has been increasing."

Children aged 5-9 years had the highest rate of falls from play equipment and were therefore were the most frequently admitted to hospital with playground-related fractures between 1992 and 2004.

"The new Australian standards for playground equipment that came out in 2004 limits the free height of fall from upper body equipment to 2.2 metres, but unless you reduce playground equipment height to 1.5 metres, it's not going to have any effect on upper limb fractures," she said.

Active play is very important for the prevention of weight gain. Playgrounds also have an essential role in teaching children motor skills and social development.

"We would like for the Australian standard to be revised. We would also like to see everyone complying with the safety regulations, particularly in council-run playgrounds. Unless the playgrounds are maintained regularly, protective surfaces on the fall zone prescribed by the standard will not be effective in preventing injury."

ENDS

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