5.3.1.11: Exercise Equipment

Children should not be permitted to have access to equipment intended for adult exercise.

RATIONALE

Exercise equipment can be potentially hazardous to young children especially if unsupervised. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that each year about 8,700 children under five years of age are injured with exercise equipment. There are an additional 16,500 injuries per year to children ages five to fourteen. Types of equipment identified in these cases include stationary bicycles, treadmills, and stair climbers. Fractures and even amputations were reported in about 20% of exercise equipment-related injuries (1,2). These types of equipment may be attractive to young children because of their size and the inability to store after use (3). Equipment should be placed or stored in rooms that can be secured from children’s access.

TYPE OF FACILITY

Center, Early Head Start, Head Start, Large Family Child Care Home, Small Family Child Care Home

REFERENCES

1. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Prevent injuries to children from exercise equipment. Document #5028. Washington, DC: CPSC. http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/5028.html.
2. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 2000. National electronic injury surveillance system: Exercise equipment estimate report, 1999. Washington, DC: CPSC.
3. Jones, C. S., J. Freeman, T. M. Penhollow. 2006. Epidemiology of exercise equipment-related injuries to young children. Pediatr Emergency Care 22:160-63.