Volume 182 - Issue 1
Are current playground safety standards adequate for preventing arm fractures?
Authors: Shauna Sherker and Joan Ozanne-Smith
Med J Aust 2005; 182 (1): 46-47. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06565.x
Published online: 3 January 2005
Published online: 3 January 2005
Shauna Sherker,* Joan Ozanne-Smith†
* Postdoctoral Research Fellow, NSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW; † Chair of Injury Prevention, Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC. Shauna.SherkerATunsw.edu.au
In reply: The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically among Australian children, particularly over the past 2 decades.1 However, the role of obesity as a risk factor for fall-related arm fracture remains unclear. Using standard definitions for child overweight and obesity,2 our study population3 (Box) did not demonstrate quite as high a prevalence of obesity as had been previously reported for Victorian schoolchildren.1
This case series was part of a larger, yet to be published case–control study, the results of which indicate no significant difference in body mass index between children who fell from playground equipment and fractured their arm (cases) and those who fell and landed on their arm with no significant injury (controls).
The negative public health effects of increasing prevalence of obesity among Australian children highlight the need to promote safe and enjoyable physical activity. Playground equipment provides a very popular means of physical activity for children. Improving playground safety standards to minimise the risk of arm fracture — a traumatic, costly and preventable childhood injury — has never been more urgent.
Children with arm fracture caused by falls from playground equipment, showing proportion of children who were normal weight, overweight or obese.*
* Based on unpublished data from Sherker and Ozanne-Smith.3
References
- Booth M, Chey T, Wake M, et al. Change in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among young Australians, 1969–1997. Am J Clin Nutr 2003; 77: 29-36. CBBDHFAH
- Cole T, Bellizzi M, Flegal K, Dietz W. Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. BMJ 2000; 320: 1240-1243. CBBBBDGE
- Sherker S, Ozanne-Smith J. Are current playground safety standards adequate for preventing arm fractures? Med J Aust 2004; 180: 562-565. CBBCGIIC