Published online April 3, 2006
PEDIATRICS Vol. 117 No. 4 April 2006, pp. 1197-1202 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-1379)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (6)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Trifiletti, L. B.
Right arrow Articles by Gielen, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Trifiletti, L. B.
Right arrow Articles by Gielen, A.
Related Collections
Right arrow Office Practice
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Tipping the Scales: Obese Children and Child Safety Seats

Lara B. Trifiletti, PhD, MAa, Wendy Shields, MPHb, David Bishai, MD, PhD, MPHb, Eileen McDonald, MSb, Florence Reynaud, BA, CPS-Tb and Andrea Gielen, ScD, ScMb

a Columbus Children’s Research Institute, Center for Injury Research and Policy, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
b Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Injury Research and Policy, Baltimore, Maryland

OBJECTIVE. To shed light on the extent to which childhood obesity affects the types of appropriate child safety seats for young children, by providing an estimate of the number of US children whose weight renders them unable to use safely the majority of child safety seat types currently available.

METHODS. The types of appropriate child safety seats were assessed by using National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2005 Child Safety Seat Ease of Use Ratings. Estimates of the numbers of children weighing above the maximal weight for those child safety seats were calculated by using the tabulations of growth curves based on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999 to 2000 data that were assembled by the National Center for Health Statistics and the US Census for the year 2000.

RESULTS. A total of 283305 children 1 to 6 years of age would have a difficult (if not impossible) time finding a safe child safety seat because of their age and weight. The vast majority of these children are 3 years of age and weigh >40 lb (182661 children). For these children, there are currently only 4 child safety seat types available, each of which costs between $240 and $270.

CONCLUSIONS. This study determined that there is limited availability of child safety seat types for the ever-increasing number of obese young children. There are substantial numbers of children who weigh more than the upper weight limit for most currently available child safety seats. While we await reductions in the childhood obesity epidemic, options for maximizing the protection of obese children in automobiles must be identified.

Key Words: child safety seats • obesity

Abbreviations: NHTSA—National Highway Traffic Safety Administration • CDC—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • NHANES—National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey • NCHS—National Center for Health Statistics • CSC—Children’s Safety Center

Accepted Aug 29, 2005.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 CLIN PEDIATRHome page
W. T. Basco Jr, P. J. Hletko, L. West, and P. M. Darden
Determining the Proportion of Children Too Heavy for Age-Appropriate Car Seats in a Practice-Based Research Network
Clinical Pediatrics, January 1, 2009; 48(1): 37 - 43.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Inj. Prev.Home page
K M Pollack, D Xie, K B Arbogast, and D R Durbin
Body mass index and injury risk among US children 9-15 years old in motor vehicle crashes
Inj. Prev., December 1, 2008; 14(6): 366 - 371.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Inj. Prev.Home page
K. M Pollack and L. J Cheskin
Obesity and workplace traumatic injury: does the science support the link?
Inj. Prev., October 1, 2007; 13(5): 297 - 302.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]