Toppling TVs felling youngsters

Adults need to be better educated about television's potential harm--not content or programming, but the physical danger of falling sets, according to a study by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.

Pediatricians reviewed a year's worth of emergency department cases involving children injured by television sets toppling over, usually because of climbing toddlers or someone accidentally knocking into the TV. "Our data indicates a lack of parental awareness and an absence of primary prevention as a root cause for this problem," warns Floyd Ota, assistant professor of pediatrics.

More than 98% of homes in the U.S. have at least one television and one household out of every four purchases a new model each year, reports the Consumer Electronics Association. That turnover pattern leads to unfamiliarity with issues like size, required safety clearance, and weight distribution.

"The majority of the weight is toward the front of the unit," Ota notes. "If the television is not placed on a stable display area, or if the display area is not secured, the imbalanced weight distribution increases the potential for toppling forward."

It is estimated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission that 2,300 children visit emergency rooms annually for injuries due to falling TVs. Previous studies suggest this in-home hazard may be on the rise.

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