By: SUZY TURNER
THEY MIGHT seem like a lot of fun but the new trend for trainers containing hidden wheels in the soles can be dangerous.
A spokesperson for the US Consumer Products Safety Commission said that the agency knew of at least 64 roller shoe related injuries and one death between September 2005 to December 2006.
A report in last month’s edition of Pediatrics (the official journal of the American Academy of Paediatrics) stated that 67 children were treated for such injuries at a Dublin hospital over a 10-week period last summer. The most popular brand of the shoes, Heelys, sold in 70 countries worldwide, maintains their product has a safer injury rate than skateboarding, inline-skating and swimming.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons recommends, however, that kids using the shoes should wear a helmet, wrist protectors, and knee and elbow pads.
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