Updated on: 11/7/2019
Car Seat Safety Research
There were new findings on car seat safety for children released by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Center for Injury Research and Prevention.
In a recent study, it was found that if children are in a car seat that is appropriate for their height and weight, their weight is not a factor. The will have adequate protection in the case of a motor vehicle accident regardless of weight. It was controversial whether a child being under or overweight would affect their safety in a crash.
Researchers studied about 1,000 children ages 1 to 8 that were involved in accidents and found no correlation with weight and increased risk of injury. The child participants were all in the appropriate car seats or booster seats based on their height and weight recommendations from the manufacturers.
The reason for the study is because 32 percent of U.S. children are overweight or considered obese and motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of child injuries and fatalities. The lead author Dr. Mark Zonfrillo wanted to better understand if there was a deadly correlation.
The car seats were shown to provide adequate protection.
Child Car Seat Safety Guidelines
Zonfrillo says the best time to re-evaluate your child’s car seat is when they visit the doctor for routine checkups. This is when you will get accurate height and weight measurements.