by Tripp Underwood on April 27, 2012
Tree climbing can be dangerous and should only be done under close supervision
The warm weather is finally here, which means many kids will be spending more time outside. Playgrounds are a great way for children to get exercise, but while there they should be watched closely to make sure the running and climbing doesn’t end in injury. To keep kids safe while playing outside:
- Make sure an adult is always watching
- When possible, visit playgrounds built on a soft surface like rubber, bark chips or sand
- Dress them in safe play clothes. Scarves, hood draw-stings, necklaces and other dangling accessories can get caught on play equipment. Also, helmets should only be worn during the activity it was designed for. Playing and running with a helmet could cause an accident because it could limit the child’s range of vision.
Riding a bike, skateboard or scooter is another great summer activity, but only when done safely. Most accidents involving children and bicycles, in-line skates and skateboards happen because the child broke a traffic or safety rule. If your child uses a wheeled toy be sure he or she:
Knows the rules of the road:
- Always ride on the right side of the road, going the same direction as traffic
- Use hand signals to let others know which way he is turning
- Stop at all stop signs and red lights
- Look both ways before crossing a street or sidewalk Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on December 7, 2011
There have been a rash of infant deaths In Milwaukee, all related to unsafe sleeping environments. The most recent victim was a 1-month-old girl recently found dead after spending the night sleeping in the same bed with an adult.
The girl was at least the 10th child to die in the area because of an unsafe sleeping environment. Most of those deaths involved suffocation and happened when the child shared a bed with an adult or older sibling. Sleeping in bed with an infant can be dangerous for several reasons:
- Risk of rolling over on top of the infant causing suffocation
- Infant suffocating from soft bed clothing (pillows, comforter, loose sheets)
- Infant suffocating when the head gets stuck between the mattress and the wall
- Infant falling off the bed
In response to the deaths, Milwaukee health officials have released a controversial ad campaign, showing a sleeping baby snuggling up to a kitchen knife with these words: Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on December 1, 2011
By Lois Lee, MD, MPH, an emergency medicine physician at Children’s Hospital Boston.
Now that the turkey and pumpkin pie are long gone, children have turned their holiday attention to what they think matters most—toys. But as you glance over those ever- growing wish lists, how can you be sure which toys are safest for your family? Fortunately for the safety conscious gift-giver in all of us, the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG) recently released Trouble in Toyland, their annual report on toy safety. This is the non-profit consumer organization’s 26th report, which for years has provided safety guidelines for consumers, as well as highlight toys currently on store shelves that could be potentially dangerous. It’s a great guide for parents, but by no means a rulebook; when shopping for your family, keep in mind that a little common sense goes a long way. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on November 10, 2011
By Eric Fleegler, MD, MPH, attending in Pediatric Emergency Medicine; co-author, “Attempts to Silence Firearm Injury Prevention.”
I remember the first time I fired a shotgun: the noise was extreme, the kickback stronger than I anticipated. It was exhilarating. I was 17 years old.
At the time I was struck by the raw power of the gun, the enjoyment of the moment. Twenty-two years later I am struck by the potential on that day for a devastating accident. I was in the backwoods of a classmate’s house. We were by ourselves, shooting an old microwave in the middle of the day.
As a pediatric emergency medicine doctor I see the results of bad decisions every single shift: bike accidents that occur without helmets which lead to permanent brain injury. Intoxicated teenagers who aspirate their own vomit and end up in the intensive care unit. Sexually active adolescents who don’t use protection and get infections—or get pregnant. A 10-year-old child accidentally shot in the thigh by his friend while playing with his dad’s gun.
Discussions about risky behaviors are too late for these kids. They needed guidance, at regular intervals, prior to these incidents—the kind of guidance that is the mainstay of what we do as health care providers. Asking patients about tobacco, drug and alcohol use, sexual activity, and finding out if they are depressed, have suicidal thoughts and have access to weapons that can readily kill them is vital to my work as an emergency medicine physician. Full story »
by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on September 7, 2011
Lois Lee, MD, MPH
The excitement of decorating a baby’s room is a wonderful rite of passage for every parent. It’s also a big business for manufacturers. If you look in any baby related catalog, the choices for furniture, bedding and toys seems unlimited. But even though having so many options for matching sheets, blankets, crib bumpers and stuffed animals for your baby’s crib may seem appealing, these items put infants at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)* as well as suffocation, strangulation and entrapment.
It is well known that there are significant disparities in some medical conditions between different races and ethnicities, and SIDS risks are no exception. In infants born to black mothers, the rate of SIDS is more than twice that of white, non-Hispanic infants. In addition, black infants have much higher rates of death due to accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, often caused by unsafe bedding items.
To better understand the reasons why the use of soft bedding is more prominent in black families, researchers from Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. recently conducted a study of infant bedding practices in black mothers. It’s hoped that by compiling this type of data, the medical community can better identify and educate at-risk families, resulting in safer infant sleep surfaces in the United States. Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on August 16, 2011
Cigarette manufacturer Reynolds American Inc. recently released a new ad campaign for its American Spirit line, touting the eco-friendliness of the brand. The ads boast that the company uses recycled paper, electric hand dryers and ceramic mugs instead of paper towels and disposables cups. It even goes as far as to point out that their sales team drives hybrids. Thankfully it stops short of saying that America Spirits are a healthier cigarette than non-green alternatives, but the message is pretty clear: if you smoke and care about the environment, American Spirit is the brand for you.
Hopefully most people will recognize these ads for what they are, a green tinted smoke screen devised to push an otherwise unhealthy product. But regardless of the campaign’s success, the fact that these ads exist at all says a lot about how the eco movement influences people’s buying habits. If something as unhealthy as tobacco is rebranding itself as green, then it’s safe to assume that phony green marketing has infiltrated other markets as well. Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on July 13, 2011
When we think of child abuse and neglect, we think of burns and bruises and children left unattended. We don’t think of obesity. But maybe, in some cases, we should.
In a recent commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), David Ludwig, MD, PhD, director of the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, argues that life-threatening obesity—where a child’s body mass index (BMI) is beyond the 99 percentile and multiple attempts to help the child lose weight have failed—could call for state intervention, and in extreme cases foster care.
Children in this highest BMI category are at great risk for many serious health complications. We all know that childhood obesity can lead to life-long health complications, but in extreme cases it can be life-threatening in the short term. For example, type 2 diabetes, which is being seen in younger and younger patients as the childhood obesity epidemic continues, can cause very serious complications and even be fatal. Sleep apnea, which often occurs in obese children, can lead to very dangerous heart problems.
Because of these dangers Ludwig says the most severe instances of childhood obesity may justify a child’s removal from the home because of imminent health risks to the child and the parents’ continued failure to address those problems. Full story »
by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on July 11, 2011
Did you watch the Today show this morning? If so you probably saw a segment on trampoline safety featuring Thriving safety expert, Lois Lee, MD, MPH. Here, Dr. Lee goes into more detail about how to keep your children safe should they use a backyard trampoline.
One of the activities my sister and I enjoyed as children was jumping on our neighbor’s trampoline. The trampoline was your standard backyard kind–rectangular and black with only mesh on the sides. There was no such thing as netting around the trampolines back then. Most of the time we loved to jump on it and do somersaults, but there were other times when we would just lay on the warm black surface and watch the clouds drift by.
Lois Lee, MD, MPH
If my mother knew then what I know now, we’d have spent a lot less time on that trampoline. Actually, knowing my mother, we wouldn’t have spent any time on it at all.
In response to NBC Today Show’s inquiry about any recent trampoline-related injuries at Children’s, I did a quick search of patients figuring there would be only a few from the scattered sunny days we have had this spring. Boy, was I surprised to find out that the emergency department at Children’s Hospital Boston has seen at least 20 children with trampoline related injuries in the last 8 weeks. Most of the children had fractures of their arms or legs after falling while jumping on the trampoline in their own backyard. Nationally, over 90% of the trampoline injuries seen in the emergency department occur on a home-based trampoline—not at a gymnastics facility. Full story »
