American kids, listen up: The homes you live in may be hazardous to your health, according to a new national survey.
The poll of 1,560 parents, released Thursday, showed that:- While 98 percent said they have smoke detectors in the home, only 29 percent checked the batteries regularly.
- Nearly half, 48 percent, said they should practice a fire-escape route with their children from time to time, but only 18 percent said they do.
- Fifty-six percent with youngsters age 5 to 14 said they don't always make sure their children wear proper safety gear - helmets, knee guards, elbow guards - while in-line skating, and 24 percent of all parents said their kids don't wear the gear at all.
- Only 42 percent of parents with children age 4 and under have safety gates for stairways in
the home.
The poll was commissioned by the National Safe Kids Campaign, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Children's National Medical Center here.
Pollster Peter Hart, whose firm conducted the survey, said parents "don't know enough about the basics of household safety." His survey, conducted in February, asked parents what they do to protect their children from common injuries. Overall, he said, those surveyed did best in the area of "good intentions." He added, "Parents know they should act and don't. Follow-up in many cases is missing."
Accidental injuries are the leading killer of children age 14 years and younger, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 40 percent of such injuries occur around the home, with the rest in motor vehicles, on playgrounds and in schools. Among children age 1 to 4, fire is the leading cause of accidental death.
In 1993, more than 6,900 children age 14 and younger died from accidental injuries and more than 50,000 were permanently disabled, CDC figures show. More than 14 million children aged 14 and younger - one fourth of the youngsters in that age group - sustain injuries that are serious enough to require medical attention each year, the CDC said.
Hart said that in some safety areas, parents were doing well. Besides buying smoke detectors, most lock up medicines and vitamins to keep them out of the reach of children. Three-fourths of parents put safety latches on drawers and cabinets, the survey showed.
But failing to check smoke-detector batteries can have fatal consequences. Ninety percent of child fire-related deaths occur in homes without working smoke detectors, the National Safe Kids Campaign said.
The survey also found that fewer than one in three parents of children age 4 and younger have installed window guards to prevent falls, and that despite recent widespread publicity about the need for young children to ride in the back seat of cars, only 48 percent of parents said they instruct their children to sit in the back seat.