COLUMBUS, Ohio – Once an hour, somewhere in the U.S., a child is rushed to the emergency room with an injury suffered in a fall from a high chair or booster seat, according to a new study by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Two-thirds of the children injured were climbing or standing in the chair, suggesting that the chair’s safety restraint system either was not being used or was ineffective, according to the report, available online and in an upcoming print issue of “Clinical Pediatrics.”
The Center for Injury Research and Policy examined data from 2003 through 2010 and found that, on average, more than 9,400 children were taken to emergency rooms every year with injuries associated with a high chair or booster seat, equaling one child every hour nationally, Dr. Gary Smith, the center’s director, said.
Concussions and internal head injuries were the most common injuries associated with high chair falls and the number of them increased by almost 90 percent during the study period, Smith said.
Smitho noted that many parents assume the tray will keep a child from jumping or falling out of a high chair but he says the tray was not designed as a restraint, so it is important for parents to use of the safety straps.