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[Infant walkers: the prevalence of use]
Feriha Hadzagić-Catibusić1, Ismet Gavrankapetanović, Smail Zubcević
1Pedijatrijska Klinika, KCU Sarajevo.
Insights
Infant walker use is common, despite risks of delayed motor skills and injuries. Many mothers are unaware of the dangers, leading to continued use, especially for at-risk infants.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Child Health
Background:
- Infant walkers enable early mobility but can hinder natural motor development.
- Walker use may lead to delayed motor milestones and conditions mimicking spastic diparesis.
- Specific risks include calf contractures, hip dislocations, and upper extremity issues, particularly in infants at risk for cerebral palsy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence and effects of infant walker use in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- To assess mothers' awareness of the harmful effects associated with infant walkers.
- To identify reasons for continued infant walker usage despite potential risks.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 150 children and their mothers from three major cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Data collection via questionnaires.
- Analysis of walker usage patterns, associated motor disturbances, and injuries.
Main Results:
- High prevalence of infant walker use (86.6%), with usage starting around 7 months.
- Significant association between infant walker use and motor disturbances (56.5% of affected children used walkers).
- Mild injuries reported in 11.3% of cases; 55.3% of mothers were aware of harmful effects.
Conclusions:
- Widespread infant walker use contrasts with mothers' limited awareness of risks.
- Walker use poses particular harm to infants with existing motor disturbances.
- Mothers' need for assistance with daily tasks drives walker use; safer alternatives and public education are recommended.
Unlabelled:
Infant walkers are mobile wheeled seats that allow infants to move around with their feet on the floor. They enable precocious locomotion in very young, otherwise prelocomotor infants. Prelocomotor walker experience prevents visual access to the moving limbs. Infant walker use can be associated with delay in achievement of normal locomotor milestones. Besides delayed motor development, contractures of the calf muscles and motor development mimicking spastic diparesis may appear. In the case of infant walker's use for the infants at risk for development of cerebral palsy, multiple side effects can be produced: the persistence of positive support reflex, heel cord contractures, subluxation and dislocation of the hips or pronation contractures of the upper extremities. The use of infant walkers increases the risk of injuries. The study has enrolled 150 children and their mothers, from three big cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo, Bihać, Zenica). All relevant data have been collected through the questionnaires. 130 children (86.6%) have used infant walkers. The mean age when the use of infant walker has started was 7 months. The mean time of daily use of infant walker was 1 hour 49 minutes. Twenty three children had various motor disturbances, 13 out of them (56.5%) have used infant walker. The mild injuries caused by using the infant walkers have been registered in 17 cases (11.3%). 83 mothers (55.3%) were aware of infant walker's nocuous effects.
Conclusion:
The use of infant walkers has been spread widely under our circumstances. There is significant discrepancy between mothers' knowledge about nocuous effects of infant walkers and their practice. The use of infant walkers for infants with motor disturbances is especially harmful. The main reason for using infant walker, despite of its harmfulness, was mother's preoccupation with everyday household activities. It is necessary to engage health professionals to support antiwalker campaign (warning labels on the infant walkers, public education programs, etc). We recommend safer alternatives for child daycare, like stationary activity centers (so called "fenced play gardens".
