LATEST ARTICLES

Is soft play preferable to festive ornament hazards?

Date: 16/12/2009 / Category: Kids party ideas

Demonstrating the benefits of soft play over playing in the house, a new study has shows that festive decorations are a significant safety hazard for children.

Decorations, particularly glass ornaments, are responsible for causing injuries in children, often when youngsters ingest pieces of glass or small batteries, according to the Children's Hospital at Boston's Division of Emergency Medicine.

More than half of cases studied involved light bulbs being put into mouths, resulting in bleeding in the mouth or gastrointestinal tract.

Co-author of the study Lois Lee urged parents to be extra careful this Christmas.

She said: "If you know that your child has a tendency to put things in his or her mouth, you should be especially careful.

"If there are toddlers in the house, keep them away from the Christmas tree, or at least keep the ornaments off the lower branches where the children can reach them."

Meanwhile, recent research by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley suggested that improving fitness, such as at indoor soft play centres, among low-income adolescents is one way of curbing obesity.

Posted by Sarah Thomas ADNFCR-2594-ID-19514920-ADNFCR