ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 4, 1996 TAG: 9603050003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LINI S. KADABA KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
OK, the issue isn't exactly the stuff of checkout-line headlines. But grocery carts can endanger. An estimated 25,000 cart-related injuries - from cuts to fractures - occur each year to children, especially those 5 years old and younger, according to recent research.
``The majority of injuries are minor. But you have the spectrum,'' said pediatrician Gary Smith, director of emergency services at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who, along with several colleagues, has researched the subject.
In 1992, for example, a 3-year-old boy died as a result of a fall from a shopping cart. Workers in Roanoke Valley hospital emergency rooms could not recall any cases of shopping cart injuries, however.
Smith is calling for a redesign of what he sees as faulty grocery carts. A study by Smith and his colleagues of 62 cases, published last month in the journal Pediatrics, found that 60 percent of the injuries resulted from children falling from carts. An additional one-fourth involved carts tipping over.
Smith goes so far as to recommend that children not ride in carts.
But a spokesman for a grocery-cart maker places the blame for injuries on parents' shoulders.
``Every accident we know about could have been prevented with the appropriate parental supervision,'' said Victor Grimm, vice president of Chicago-based UNR Industries, a leading manufacturer of grocery carts.
Gary Smith and other pediatricians disagreed.
``We don't want to panic people,'' said Steven Selbst, director of the emergency department at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. ``At the same time, it is a danger.'' A cart redesign, he acknowledged, might eliminate some injuries.
At Children's Hospital of Philadelphia last year, 23 children with cart-related injuries came to the emergency room for treatment, Selbst said.
Added Smith: ``Parents do have a responsibility. At the same time, we know the limits of supervision. The best parents in the world can't watch their children 100 percent of the time.''
One mother recently recounted - albeit reluctantly - the time her 22-month-old daughter fell out of the cart. ``She was standing up in the back. She fell over - right here,'' she said, pointing to the linoleum floor near the movie rentals. ``It's my fault,'' she said, chagrined.
Still, she said, the idea of a redesigned cart or some other child-carrying apparatus appealed to her.
Smith has recommended that carts have a lower center of gravity, a wider stance and seat belts. He wants to retro-fit existing carts with outrigger wheels - something cart manufacturers consider unfeasible, saying the cart won't fit through narrow store aisles.
``This is not a vehicle for riding,'' Grimm said. ``It's a grocery cart.''
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission supports the use of seat belts in carts. But not all carts have restraining straps, which are optional. ``The industry is talking with us to prevent injuries,'' said Maryanne Sieber, public affairs specialist for the commission's Philadelphia office.
Obviously, safety experts say, children should not ride in the basket. They should sit in the seat with the seat belt secured. Ideally, however, Smith wants children not to ride in carts at all. He has several suggestions, from leaving the children at home with a caretaker to encouraging grocery stores to provide a supervised child-care area.
Another alternative is a stroller device attached to the cart. One such product, the Shop-Along child carrier, has sparked some interest among store owners.
According to Apple Valley, Minn., manufacturer Four D, retailers such as Kroger provide the Shop-Along stroller to customers. After attaching the stroller to the handle-bar side of the shopping cart, the shopper pushes both in tandem from behind the stroller. The device has safety straps to secure up to two children, from 2 to 8 years old.
"They're praised a lot," said Leigh Ann Klonowski, manager-trainee at Kroger-Cave Spring in Southwest Roanoke County. "Mothers love them."
Pediatricians also say parents should exercise common sense when they place their child in a shopping cart.
``When you put a child on wheels, you need to take some precautions,'' said Mark Widome, professor of pediatrics at Pennsylvania State University. Be aware of the dangers, he said, and don't stray from the cart.
-Staff writer Sandra Kelly provided information for this story.
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