Do you know whether the playground your children use is safe?

The North Dakota State University Extension Service has a new online publication that describes possible safety issues and how a properly maintained playground should look. Check out “Is Your Playground Safe for Kids?” at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/fitness/fn1374color.pdf.

“We want our kids to play hard, but we want them to play safely, too,” says Julie Garden-Robinson, NDSU Extension food and nutrition specialist and one of the publication’s authors.

About three of four playground-related injuries happen on public playgrounds and one of four injuries occurs on home playgrounds, according to a University of Northern Iowa study of U.S. playgrounds.

More than 200,000 children in the U.S. visit the emergency room with playground-related injuries each year and, on average, 15 children die yearly because of those accidents.

Several North Dakota playgrounds don’t make the grade for safety. A study NDSU Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences professor Tom Barnhart conducted showed that of 19 playgrounds tested, nearly 55 percent failed to meet safety requirements for surfacing.

“Is Your Playground Safe for Kids?” lists which surfacing materials are best for playgrounds and details how those surfaces are tested. The publication also provides a safety checklist of other items to watch for on playground equipment. Those items include the spacing between playground equipment and whether the equipment has protruding end bolts, worn or open “S” hooks, sharp points or edges, spaces that could trap children and tripping hazards, such as exposed concrete footings, tree stumps or rocks.

“Approximately 80 percent of all playground-related injuries involve falls,” says Barnhart, a co-author of the online publication. “Head injuries are involved in 75 percent of all fall-related deaths at playgrounds. Maintaining 12 inches of loose fill under playground equipment is an effective measure to make playgrounds safer places for children to play. A well-maintained playground surface can prevent a visit to the hospital emergency room.”

For more information about playground safety, visit the Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/playpubs.html.

While playing safely is important, so is eating smart, Garden-Robinson says. For more information about nutrition and fitness, visit the NDSU Extension Service’s “Eat Smart. Play Hard” Web site at http://www.ndsu.edu/eatsmart.

NDSU Agriculture Communication