Health Update: Walking wounds

PARENTS should boycott baby-walkers or campaign for them to be redesigned, say researchers from the Monash University Accident Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. In a survey published by the centre, they found that about 4 per cent of all injuries to infants aged between four and 16 months in Australia are due to baby-walkers, as are 2 per cent of hospital admissions in this age group.

Most injuries result from babies hitting concrete or other hard surfaces when their walkers tip over or fall down steps, or when infants pull down furniture on top of themselves, or are burnt by hot surfaces.