© 2003 BMJ Publishing Group & Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
LEADING ARTICLE
Legislation
Cycle helmets
1 The Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust, 1st Floor, 43–45 Milford Road, Reading, Berkshire RG1 8LG, UK
2 Consultant Paediatrician, Department of Paediatrics, Royal Berkshire Hospital, London Road, Reading, Berkshire RG1 5AN, UK Conflicting interests: NPM is Chairman of The Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Miss A Lee, Chief Executive, The Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust, 1st Floor, 43–45 Milford Road, Reading, Berkshire RG1 8LG, UK;
BHIT@dial.pipex.com
Time for legislation
Keywords: bicycle; cyclist; head injury; helmet
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Few people are in any doubt that cycling has enormous health benefit to children, especially when there are increasing concerns among health professionals about the sedentary lifestyle of children and the impact such inactivity has on the incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other adverse health outcomes.1,2 Cycling is a useful form of regular exercise, but this activity must be carried out safely with measures to minimise the risk of injury. Many injuries sustained by children from bicycle accidents arise from loss of attention or poor coordination; others are caused by failure to avoid obstacles such as drains, or undertaking stunts.
Each year more than 50 young people aged 15 years and under are killed in cycling related accidents, with 70–80% of these deaths caused by traumatic brain injury.3 The evidence suggests that children are at greater risk to head injury than adults.4 Hospital based figures show that
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