Children's falls linked to parents' safety behaviour, study finds

Parents of children who fell at home were more likely not to use safety gates and not to have taught their children rules about climbing on things in the kitchen, a study from researchers at The University of Nottingham has found. In the UK, more than 200,000 under-fives attend emergency departments (ED) and in England more than 20,000 are admitted to hospital each year following a fall. Most of these incidents involved falls from beds, chairs, baby walkers, bouncers, changing tables and high chairs. Denise Kendrick, Professor of Primary Care Research, in the University's School of Medicine, led the research which has been published online by JAMA Pediatrics and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) . Professor Kendrick said: "Falls from furniture are common in the under-fives and few studies have measured the risk associated with various safety behaviours and items of safety or nursery equipment. Children develop and learn to do new things very quickly. It is important to anticipate what a child is likely to be able to do in the near future and adapt the home to suit them.