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Barriers to wearing bicycle safety helmets in The Netherlands
G H Seijts1, G Kok, L M Bouter
1Department of Health Education, University of Limburg, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Objective:
To explore behavioral factors that determine whether children (aged 7 to 13 years) wear bicycle safety helmets.
Design:
Cross-sectional survey.
Setting:
Three Dutch primary schools in Breda, Maastricht, and Terneuzen, the Netherlands.
Participants:
Two hundred fifty-nine children aged 7 to 13 years.
Intervention:
Wearing a bicycle safety helmet for 6 consecutive weeks.
Results:
Information about experiences with the bicycle safety helmet was gathered via questionnaires. Wearing a bicycle safety helmet was described as inconvenient, time-consuming, and uncomfortable. Children also perceived negative reactions from their social environment.
Conclusions:
Planned health promotion activities will be essential for the introduction of bicycle safety helmets to be successful. These activities should focus particularly on developing a comfortable bicycle safety helmet, creating facilities to store bicycle safety helmets, and changing negative social norms regarding wearing a bicycle safety helmet.