Comments on: Monkey see, monkey do? Images, media and public health

By: KiwiLog

KiwiLog — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:41:54 +0000

Hi! We loved your post over at KiwiLog and decided to feature it as part of our parent blog round-up. Thanks!

By: Environmentally Friendly - Healthy Lifestyle and Nutrition tips for Healthy Homes — Environmentally Friendly - Healthy Lifestyle and Nutrition tips for Healthy Homes

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:02:32 +0000

[...] PhD in Parenting weighs in on an interesting controversy over helmets and the responsibility of the media to portray bike safety. [...]

By: Marianne

Marianne — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:32:57 +0000

Children aren’t raised in a vaccuum … it takes whole community. As such, we absolutely have a right to comment (respectfully) on the manner in which others parent their children, most especially when it comes to questions of safety.

By: Kayris

Kayris — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:19:38 +0000

My kids always wear helmets. I was glad of this on the day my son fell off his bike, while riding on the sidewalk, nowhere near traffic, and landed on his head. Doctor friends who have done ER rotations swear that helmets save lives. After Natasha Richardson died from a seemingly harmless bump on the head, I thought more people would realize that even a small fall can cause a serious head injury.

There is a bike helmet law here, but it’s not enforced, I routinely have to brake because kids on bikes with no helmets ride out into the street in front of me.

By: Rob A

Rob A — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:24:38 +0000

a child’s bike helmet is only around 250 grams (9 oz) so they are not *that* top heavy.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:21:57 +0000

I have to think that the helmet breaking helps prevent injuries. My mother’s boyfriend does a lot of bike riding, and the day he was hit by a car his helmet broke. His head was fine. It’s hard to not consider the two associated.

By: phdinparenting

phdinparenting — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:36:40 +0000

@Marcy:

I tend to agree. A large portion of people use child seats incorrectly too. That doesn’t mean that they do not prevent injuries and save lives when used correctly.

By: Marcy

Marcy — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:40:24 +0000

From the study:

“This contradiction may be due to risk compensation, incorrect helmet wearing, reduced safety in numbers, or incorrect adjustment for confounders in case-control studies”

From reading through the study, it sounds to me like the answer might not necessarily be to simply not bother with helmets, but to figure out how to make them more effective. If 90%+ of people are wearing helmets wrong (and that may very well have a HUGE impact on how well they protect cyclists) then we need to a) educate people on how to wear them correctly and b) look into re-designing helmets so they’re easier to wear correctly.

As for the helmets breaking on impact, maybe I’m missing something but my basic understanding of physics leads me to believe that if I fall off a bike and my helmet hits the ground and breaks, it is still absorbing quite a bit of impact (enough to break it) that instead would have hit directly on my skull. That seems worth something.

By: phdinparenting

phdinparenting — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:01:14 +0000

I agree Marcy – telling people to wear helmets is not enough. We need to teach them how to use them properly. I also agree about ensuring the imagery on the package of bikes enforces the safety message inside.

By: Cara

Cara — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:42:42 +0000

Interesting point. Looking back, I loved to ride my bike until it ‘became’ (california helmet law) dangerous to do so when I was around 10 years old. Then it was either be ‘living on the edge’ or feel choked while riding down our quiet country road, so I took up swimming instead. I wonder how little children first learning can balance at all while being so top heavy. Something I’ll be looking into more before my children start riding bikes.