[School Education] There is a risk of internal organ damage requiring surgery if a child wearing a cross-body water bottle falls [Commuting to school / Child injuries]

Medical professionals are calling for caution, noting a series of accidents where children who fell while wearing water bottles cross-body over their shoulders struck their abdomens with the bottles, resulting in serious injuries that required emergency surgery or organ removal.

I read this news.

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There have been a series of accidents where children who fell while wearing water bottles cross-body over their shoulders struck their abdomens with the bottles, resulting in serious injuries requiring surgery and medical professionals are calling for caution.

Due to the current climate, it has become standard for children to carry water bottles to school and in their daily lives.

When I was a child, we only brought water bottles to school for special events like field trips, and we would get scolded if we brought them regularly, but times have changed.

And, as you can see if you look at children's water bottles, the size (capacity) is often no different from the size adults carry.

Because of this, they often end up wearing them cross-body as mentioned in the news, rather than carrying them by hand.

Wearing them cross-body has benefits such as:

Being able to carry a certain amount of weight.

Keeping both hands free.

It is hard to say which is better, but it is certainly true that when a water bottle is worn cross-body, it sits around the abdomen, which can definitely lead to injuries if a child falls.

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However, manufacturers are not ignoring these risks, and I have personally looked into it, finding things like:

Randoseru (School backpack) side auxiliary bags

like this, attaching an auxiliary bag to the side of the school backpack, or

Teburan (school backpack/bottom auxiliary bag)

like this, we are developing auxiliary bags that attach to the bottom of the school backpack.

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While researching, I thought it would be good to carry a water bottle that wouldn't cause injury if a child fell on top of it, and I thought a squeeze bottle (a bottle where the contents come out when you squeeze it) fit those criteria, but it seems they don't have cooling functions yet.

As a next-best solution, with the goal of reducing the danger of the water bottle itself,

lightweight, insulated plastic water bottles

I thought that a water bottle like this might be a good idea.

I am a complete liberal arts person, so I don't know, but I wonder if it is difficult to add a cooling function to something like a silicone material that can be crushed by hand...

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As written in the article, since it is essential for children to carry water bottles to cope with the current heat, the option of not letting them carry water bottles is not realistic, and we need to think of measures for them to go to school safely.

And, parents and school teachers, etc., should

Do not run while carrying a water bottle.

Put the water bottle down when playing.

The danger of water bottles when falling.

It is also necessary to raise the child's own awareness of danger by properly talking to them and making them understand things like this.

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