All trampolines, including small ones, a child hazard

Researchers at the Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, say that small, one-person trampolines, intended for exercise, are not toys and because of the risk of injury, children should not be allowed to play on them.

They made the recommendation after reviewing U.S. government injury statistics for both full-sized and mini-trampolines from 1990 to 2002.

They found that both large and small trampolines can injure children, but the injuries involving the smaller trampolines, which were mainly head lacerations, were less likely to result in trips to the hospital.

The researchers found that thirty-two percent of the injuries that occurred on the small trampolines involved children younger than 6, compared to 19 percent in that age group on the larger ones.

It is already on record that children of that age should not be allowed to use backyard trampolines and that the sale of trampolines for private recreational use should be stopped.

Those recommendations were in fact based almost entirely on experience with full-sized trampolines, so there had always been a question of whether the smaller ones deserved the same precautions.

In conclusion, the findings of this latest study, provide an answer, and recommends that all trampolines, including mini-trampolines, should be viewed as training devices and not as toys, and is against the use of the mini-trampoline as a play device by children in the home.

The study is published in Pediatrics, the monthly journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.