DALLAS, June 1 (UPI) -- Many parents worry about the effect of TV content on their children, but an estimated 2,300 U.S. children are injured yearly because of falling televisions.
University of Texas Southwestern pediatricians reviewed a year's worth of emergency-department cases involving children injured by television sets toppling over and surveyed parents about the circumstances surrounding their child's injuries.
They found 85 percent of the TVs that toppled were situated between 2 and 5 feet from the floor, and 75 percent of the parents questioned said the child was or may have been climbing on the furniture when the accident occurred. The remaining 25 percent reported that the TV was knocked off the stand by another person.
Televisions with 20- to 30-inch screens were most commonly involved, while TVs 19 inches or smaller made up less than 20 percent of the cases, and screens between 30 and 40 inches made about 16 percent of the cases, according to study leader Dr. Robert Todd Maxson.
The study, published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine, calls for manufacturers to make available or include an inexpensive furniture securing device such as a strap and to add labels warning of the potential danger of units toppling.
