It is a common sight to find children whizzing around on their bikes, skateboards, and scooters in our neighbourhood. However, one may note that many are not wearing helmets.
According to a new national poll, half of the children who live in communities where there are no helmet laws do not wear helmets while riding their bikes. But helmets, like seatbelts, are one of those must-have safety devices that really make a difference. Studies have shown that wearing a helmet while bike riding lowers the risk of death by more than 50 percent. 40,000 head injuries and 50,000 injuries to the scalp and face each year would be prevented in kids ages four to 15 if they wore bicycle helmets, according to the American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Brain injuries, unlike, say, a broken arm, can have severe and lasting consequences. In a recent review of nearly 30 studies on brain injury, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles found that kids with moderate to severe brain trauma trailed behind their peers in certain types of brain function such as memory, verbal skills and problem solving even two or more years after the injury. The study also showed that younger children are particularly susceptible to lingering problems from brain injuries. Kids who were between 2 and 7 years old when they suffered the injury sometimes lagged behind peers in verbal skills years later, even when the injury was mild.
So make it a mandatory rule in your house that your child must wear his helmet if he wants to ride his bike, skates, or anything else on wheels. If you instill the habit as early as possible, it'll become a part of his life, hopefully far into the teen years and beyond.
How strict are you when it comes to making your kids wear helmets?
Ref: http://childparenting.about.com/b/2009/06/17/bicycle-helmets-do-your-kids-wear-them.htm
