Falling Televisions Injure Thousands Of US Children — And The Rate Is Rising
As hipsters once enjoined America to "kill your television," a new study finds that televisions are indeed harming U.S. children — but not how you think.
Falling television sets have injured nearly 200,000 children in the United States during the past 20 years, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. Most of these non-fatal injuries were not serious and only 2.6 percent required hospital admission. However, the rate of injuries from television-related accidents is rising substantially, researchers said.
National data from 1990 to 2011 shows that most injuries occur in children under five, with head and neck wounds most common. In 2011, more than 12,000 children across the country received emergency room care for such injuries — up from more than 5,400 in 1990.
The rise in injuries to children from falling television sets may be attributed to improper placement of televisions as more households own multiple sets, increasingly flat-screen models placed more precariously atop surfaces or mounted on walls.
As not many have heeded the call to "kill your television," the small screen is present in 99 percent of U.S. households, with 55 percent owning three or more sets. However, the increasing number of televisions in the household may only be one reason for the rising injury rate.
"We speculate that changes in the location of TV placement in the home may be responsible," researchers said. "Older TVs may be relegated to less safe locations in the home, such as on dressers or other unsuitable furniture."
But aside from older televisions placed on dressers and wobbly pieces of furniture, flat-screen televisions placed on furniture — as opposed to wall-mounted units, considered tacky by many — may be easier for children to tip over.
"Lighter weights coupled with a less bulky design may make flat panels more easily tipped than CRTs [cathode ray tube] and may be contributing to the observed increase in the rate of injuries associated with falling TVs," the researchers said.
Lead investigator Gary Smith, president of the Child Injury Prevention Alliance, recommends that parents anchor television sets to walls and surfaces. ""TVs need to be strapped or anchored to the wall. I think that's our biggest problem right now," he said. "Many parents are unaware that TVs can be so life-threatening if it topples over and falls on top of your child."
Retired pediatrician and forensic pathologist Marvin Platt even advocates an act of Congress.
"I think there needs to be much more education to the public and I feel that can be done," he told reporters in an interview. "Secondly, I think there needs to be legislation or regulation to have TVs secured to surfaces."
Source: De Roo AC, Chounthirath T, Smith GA. Television-Related Injuries To Children In The United States, 1990-2011. Pediatrics. 2013.