Health Tip: Playground Safety
March 24, 2008, 12:07 AM ET
• 1 min read
Mar. 23 -- (HealthDay News) -- Before your child visits a new playground, parents should inspect the facility to be sure it's safe.
To help protect your child from injury, the National Program for Playground Safety offers these guidelines:
Make sure that you or another trusted adult is always supervising your child's play.To prevent possible strangulation, don't allow your child to play while he's wearing clothing with drawstrings. The playground should have age-appropriate equipment in separate sections, so that younger children can avoid injury from older children's play and equipment.Playground surfaces should provide cushion in the event of a fall -- surfaces that are concrete, grass, asphalt, gravel or packed dirt can contribute to injuries. Acceptable surfaces include hardwood fiber/mulch, pea gravel, sand, or rubber mats.All equipment should be properly rooted to the ground, with no loose, rusting, or missing parts.