This Toy Is to Blame for a Huge Surge in Child Injuries

Toy-related injuries have risen dramatically over the past two decades — and one type of toy is largely to blame.

Injuries involving toys increased by 40% percent between 1990 and 2011, a new report from Clinical Pediatrics found, with about 3,278,073 kids sent to emergency rooms for toy-related injuries over the two decades, or about 149,000 cases per year.

The toys most likely to lead to injury: scooters, and other ride-on toys. The popular wheeled toy accounted for 42.5% of admissions to hospitals between 1990 and 2011 and 34.9% of injuries in children.

The report is the first nationally representative study in toy-related injuries over time, though the Consumer Product Safety Commission examines injuries annually. In the two most recent reports, scooters top the list of the most dangerous toys for kids.

In a statement to USA Today, the president of child-safety advocacy group Safe Kids Worldwide says parents can help keep kids safe by buying age-appropriate toys and protective gear like helmets and knee pads with scooters and bikes.

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