Study: Trampolines Injure 100k Annually

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Trampolines provide fun and exercise for kids, but according to a recent study they shouldn't be anywhere near your home.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is discouraging trampolines at home, saying that they pose a major injury risk and there is really no way to make them safe.

A study conducted by AAP shows that there were a total of 98,000 injuries involving kids on trampolines.

Many of those resulted in broken bones.

And according to the study, most of the injuries happen when several kids are bouncing at the same time.

Smaller kids are 14 times more likely to get hurt than bigger kids, for obvious reasons.

But the real injuries occur when kids fall off the trampoline altogether. Jumping six feet into the air could mean a good nine foot drop to the ground. And falls account for 40 percent of trampoline injuries.

Pat DeCock, a parent, is not shocked by the report's findings.

"No, doesn't surprise me at all. My wife works in the medical field, orthopedic. They saw them come in all the time. Arms, legs, usually fractures and bones broke," DeCock said.

DeCock lets neighborhood kids on his family's trampoline, but no more than two at a time. In five years, they've had one injury, but it had nothing to do with jumping.

"We have step stool that's usually there. They got off the step stool, tripped on the step stool and cut their chin," he said.

DeCock agrees that trampoline-play comes with risks. But unlike the study, he believes netting does make a difference.

"It really is a lot of fun. It's pretty safe and we usually have a net around it. He broke the net about two weeks ago, so we've got to get a new net," he said.

The study said that netting doesn't help because kids will climb it, increasing the risk of injury.

In fact, they said that nearly half of all trampoline injuries occur when an adult is just a few feet away.