Sledding is a popular winter recreation and is only enjoyed for part of the year. Still, some 20,000 kids make it to the emergency room every year, new research shows. The researchers analyzed the data over a 10-year period. They found more than 200,000 injuries serious enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room in that time period among children under the age of 19.

The main findings of this study are the following:

• It was found that 26% of the injuries were fractures.
• 25% of the injuries were cuts and bruises.
• 51% of injuries occurred during a collision.
• 34% of injuries involved a blow to the head.
• 52% of the injuries were in a place of sport or recreation.
• 31% of injuries occurred on private property.
• 42.5% of injuries involved children ages 10 to 14.
• 59.8% of all injuries were suffered by children.
• 4.1% of all emergency room visits required hospitalization.

Children were more likely to sustain head injuries and be diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and hospitalized if these accidents occurred on the street. The two main factors that contribute to sledding-related injuries are the environment and the location. Sledding areas must be free of trees and other obstacles. There should be enough exit areas set back from the streets to avoid collisions with motor vehicles.

The sled has proven to be more of a problem than originally thought. Because of the potential for serious injury, children should never ride a sled pulled by a motorized vehicle of any kind, including ATVs, snowmobiles, cars, trucks, tractors, motorcycles, ATVs, and lawnmowers. More research is needed to determine if helmets would reduce injury rates or injury severity. They also examined the types of sled vehicles involved in injuries, from sleds and snow tubes to slides and snow pucks. Some other findings that were discovered are:

• Children 9 years and older were more likely to be injured in crashes.
• Children age 4 and younger were more likely to be involved in vehicle accidents.
• One-third of all injuries were caused by children being pulled by motor vehicles.
• The use of sleds that can turn, such as pucks and snow tubes, should be discouraged. Lack of control contributes to more injuries.
• Parents should supervise children when they sleep at all times.

The data in this article comes from Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the US Census Bureau.