Prof Batt comments on trampolining for children

Following assertions by some paediatricians that garden trampolining ‘should be actively discouraged’, the Faculty’s Professor Mark Batt gave comment to the Telegraph on this topic.

The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) released a statement warning that young children in particular are at high risk of breaking or fracturing a bone or receiving a joint dislocation, warns the Most injuries result from children falling off the trampolines and from collisions when more than one child is bouncing, they said.

Professor Batt, then president of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine, said parents should also consider the health benefits of trampolines, rather than throwing them out.

He said: “As a doctor who is very concerned about physical activity levels in young people, I’d be very concerned about putting off a group of children from trampolining, who otherwise wouldn’t be very active.”

He noted that girls, who tend to be less active than boys, were often especially keen on trampolining.

Prof Batt also said some of the evidence on which the AAP had based its advice was weak, explaining that the studies did not show how many hours of trampolining, on average, led to an accident.

“The incidence might be very high, or it might be very low. We don’t know,” he said.

He also thought it likely that safety nets and protective mats did actually reduce injury. However, he agreed with the advice to always supervise activities and not let on more than one child at a time.

Prof Batt’s comments were picked up by a whole host of further publications, blogs and websites across the world.