LONDON, June 14 /PRNewswire/ --
Dads lag well behind mums in knowing how best to keep their
children safe from accidents, shows a survey from the Child Accident
Prevention Trust, on the launch of the charity's annual awareness campaign,
Child Safety Week.
Asked about accident hazards, dads fared particularly badly on
safety in everyday child care:
- Dads were 50% more likely than mums to think it takes 30
seconds for hot bath water to seriously scald a toddler. It takes just 5
seconds.
- One in three dads didn't know that a baby or toddler can drown
in just 2 inches/ 5cms of water, compared with only one in five mums.
- Mums were 50% more likely than dads to know that a cycle helmet
reduces the risk of a child suffering a serious head injury by 85%. One in
six dads had no idea how much protection a cycle helmet gives.
Katrina Phillips, chief executive of the Child Accident
Prevention Trust, says: "Dads can teach their children so much. But our
survey shows dads themselves may need some help when it comes to safety,
because they are unknowingly putting their children at risk of serious injury.
We are not knocking dads - we know they just don't have the same chances as
mums to get information. That's why we are asking dads to visit our online
dads' drop-in at www.capt.org.uk and tell us how we can help them."
Accidents are a leading cause of childhood death, disability and
serious injury, second only to cancer as the main cause of death in
childhood. Every week, around 5 children are killed in accidents, 2,000 are
admitted to hospital and 40,000 are rushed to casualty.
Notes To Editors
This news release plus photograph can be found at
www.capt.org.uk/pressrels/main.htm
The online survey was answered by 548 parents UK-wide.
Accident statistics
- Every day one child under five is admitted to hospital with
scalds caused by bath water.
- 15 under fives drowned in 2005, five of them in the bath.
- 20 cyclists under 16 were killed in road accidents in 2005 and
over 500 were seriously injured. Half of all cycling injuries and 70% of all
cycling deaths involve a head injury.
Child Accident Prevention Trust is a national charity committed
to reducing the number of children and young people killed, disabled and
seriously injured as a result of accidents. Web address: www.capt.org.uk. The
charity is inviting dads to visit its website for advice - and to suggest
ways of making it easier for dads to find out about child safety.
Child Safety Week is the Child Accident Prevention Trust's annual
awareness campaign, raising awareness of serious childhood accidents and how
to prevent them. By providing free educational resources, Child Safety Week
acts as a catalyst for thousands of local safety activities and events, which
reach millions of children and families UK-wide.
Child Safety Week is officially supported by Macfarlan Smith,
manufacturers of the bittering agent Bitrex(R), which deters young children
from drinking household cleaning products, Ei Electronics, Europe's leading
manufacturer of domestic smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, the
Electrical Safety Council, the Department of Health, the Department for
Transport, the Department for Communities and Local Government, and The
Scottish Executive, the devolved government for Scotland.
Child Accident Prevention Trust
For further press information please contact Amanda Pritchett at Child Accident Prevention Trust on +44-(0)20-7608-7361, or email amanda.pritchett@capt.org.uk
