Bath time injuries rising among kids

Washington, July 13 (ANI): Bathtubs and showers are associated with nearly half of the injuries in kids, and the rate is still increasing drastically, according to a new study.

"Unfortunately, adult supervision isn't enough to prevent these injuries, they happen so quickly that a parent simply can't react quickly enough to prevent them," said Dr. Gary Smith, with Nationwide Children's Hospital's Centre for Injury Research and Policy.

According to the new study, more than 43,000 children in the US, 18 years and younger, are treated in hospital emergency departments annually for injuries occurring in a bathtub or shower.

Smith recommends installing support bars so that kids can hold onto them when getting in and out of the tub and shower.

Smith further advises parents to ensure that there are no sharp edges that children can fall against.

The falls can also be prevented by using a slip resistant mat inside and outside the bath and shower.

The researchers said that most injuries occur to children under age 4, and most often to the face.

The most common injuries were laceration (60 percent), with the face being the most frequently injured body region (48 percent), followed by the head and neck (15 percent).

"That is because young children, the ones typically injured in bathtubs and showers, they tend topple forward, they have a high centre of gravity, and they tend to strike their head and their face, and that ends up with injures such as lacerations," Smith added.

After the study, experts are calling on manufacturers to use more slip-resistant materials when making bathtubs and showers, so that the number of injuries can be significantly reduced.

The study has been published in the journal Pediatrics. (ANI)