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Social media challenges associated paediatric burns
Alexandra Murray1, Nikolaos Arkoulis2, Sharon Ramsay3
1University of Glasgow School of Medicine, University Avenue, Glasgow, Scotland G12 8QQ, UK.
Insights
Social media challenges are causing serious burn injuries in children, with TikTok being a primary source. Early recognition and prevention strategies are crucial for child safety online.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Burn Injuries
- Social Media Trends
- Public Health
Background:
- Social media challenges pose risks, leading to documented pediatric burn injuries.
- The incidence of these injuries is underreported in medical literature.
- This study investigates challenge-related pediatric burns within a specific healthcare service.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the incidence of pediatric burns linked to social media challenges.
- To analyze the characteristics of these burn injuries and their management.
- To highlight the role of social media platforms in pediatric injury causation.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of pediatric burn cases from January 2020 to August 2025.
- Identification of injuries caused by social media challenges.
- Collection of patient demographics, injury details, and treatment data from electronic records.
Main Results:
- Thirteen pediatric patients with burns from internet challenges were identified.
- The average age was 12.4 years, with a female predominance (2:1 ratio).
- TikTok was the sole platform implicated; scalds were most common (8/13), with 2 patients needing skin grafts.
Conclusions:
- Social media content, peer pressure, and virality contribute to dangerous challenges.
- Pediatric burns from social media challenges may be underrepresented.
- Proactive identification of trends and platform-based education are recommended for prevention.
Introduction:
The emerging social media trend of "challenges" encourages users to participate in and share videos of potentially dangerous activities. Social media challenge-related paediatric burn injuries are poorly documented in medical literature. This study aims to explore the incidence of challenge-related paediatric burns within our service.
Method:
A retrospective case note review of the incidence of paediatric burn cases in our service, in which "social media challenges" were identified as a mechanism of injury, from January 2020 to August 2025. Data collected from electronic patient records included patient demographics, details of burn injuries, and subsequent management.
Results:
Thirteen patients were identified who sustained burns as a result of attempting an internet challenge. The mean age was 12.4 years (range: 9-15 years), with a female-to-male ratio of over 2:1. Four of the thirteen children were neurodivergent. The burn injuries included superficial (4/13), superficial partial-thickness (4/13), deep partial-thickness (3/13), and full-thickness burns (2/13). Scalds (8/13) were the most common mechanism of injury, followed by cold burns (3/13) and contact burns (2/13). All burn incidents were associated with TikTok™, rather than other social media platforms. Management involved 2/13 patients requiring full-thickness skin grafts.
Conclusion:
Social media platforms can expose children to dangerous content, further compounded by peer pressure and the desire to produce viral videos. The cohort is likely under-represented as an aetiology in paediatric burns. Early recognition of social media trends may enable preventative measures and education, utilising the same social media platforms, by the wider burns community.
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