Halloween is a great time for kids of all ages. For parents
of young children, it’s a time to really think about guarding your child’s
safety in numerous ways.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Youth Safety Lab
has researched and suggested the following four safety tips while participating
in the fun activities of the holiday.
1. Pumpkin Carving –
It is important that if you plan to carve a pumpkin and insert candles inside
that young children do not use sharp instruments or matches. While that seems
like common sense, hundreds of injuries occur annually while pumpkin carving
with stab wounds to the fingers and palms being the most common. According to
the Somers Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Group in Carmel, NY, every
year puncture wounds have caused significant damage to tendons, nerves or
arteries simply from trying to carve a pumpkin.
For children, it is important to get them involved but
keeping them away from the dangers. It might be best to have an older teen or
adult carve the pumpkin and allow the younger ones to scoop out the seeds and
pulp. Another suggestion is to paint or color the pumpkin rather than carving
it. Many retail stores carry kits for painting or drawing on pumpkins as
decorations rather than the traditional carving.
2. Halloween Costumes
– Children should not wear any costume that restricts their vision or their
breathing. This means full-face covering masks can be a safety hazard. Not only
does this limit the child’s ability to see while walking in the dark but some
of those significantly restrict breathing. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention also recommends that any accessories such as swords or wands should
be short, soft and flexible. Children could easily swing these accessories and
injure themselves or another child.
Also, make-up should be tested first on a small area on the
skin to test for irritation. If the surface turns red or causes a rash, you do
not want to use it on your child.
Furthermore, many costumes are not flame resistant – in fact
many are highly flammable. Recent research
discovered that various dangerous chemicals have been discovered in both
costumes and trick-or-treat bags. The study tested 106 Halloween related
products from costumes to decorations and found lead, flame retardants, tin
compounds and phthalates in these products. These chemicals are linked to asthma,
reproductive problems, developmental and learning disabilities and cancer. The
website www.healthystuff.org posted a
list last week of the specific products that contain these dangerous chemicals.
3. Trick-or-Treating
– It is highly recommended that children wear something reflective or even a
light on their costume somewhere so that they are visible to drivers. Teach
your children to look both ways before crossing the street; do not allow your
child to just run from house to house without concern over traffic.
Avoid trick-or-treating alone as it is never safe. This particular
holiday is a prevalent time for lurkers, stalkers and kidnappers. Make sure you
stay with your child. Large groups are also a good idea for neighborhood
trick-or-treating.
4. Candy – Always
examine all treats for choking hazards and tampering before allowing your child
to consume their treats. Furthermore, eat only factory-wrapped treats and avoid
homemade treats that were made by strangers. While healthy, fruit obtained from
trick-or-treating should be thrown away. It is hard to tell if there were
objects or something injected into the fruit; therefore, the safest thing to do
is toss it.
Following these four safety tips should ensure and safe and fun
holiday for you and your family. Enjoy and Happy Halloween!
Works used to compile this article:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014).
Halloween Health and Safety Tips. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/family/halloween/
Chambers, J. (2014). Tips to keep children safe as they
enjoy Halloween candy, costumes and trick or treating. Retrieved from http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/10/post_128.html
Consumer Reports. (2011). Safe Halloween pumpkin carving.
Retrieved from http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2011/10/safe-halloween-pumpkin-carving/index.htm
HealthyStuff.org. (2014). Hidden dangerous chemicals in
popular Halloween costumes and “Trick or Treat” bags. Retrieved from http://www.healthystuff.org/get-stuff.php?report=Hidden+Dangerous+Chemicals+in+Popular+Halloween+Costumes+and+%22Trick+or+Treat%22+Bags
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2014). Halloween food
safety tips for parents. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm187021.htm
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