Canada Becomes First Country To
Ban Sale, Resale Of Baby Walkers

The federal government has imposed an immediate ban on the sale, resale, advertisement and importation of baby walkers, becoming the first country to do so.

The ban, long called for by child safety advocates, was announced by Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew.

"Canadians must know about the dangers posed to infants through the use of baby walkers," Pettigrew said in a statement.

"It is the safety of our children that is of the most vital importance."

The move was applauded by the Canadian Pediatric Society. President-elect Dr. Robin Walker said the group is relieved the federal government has finally moved to ban the items.

"The question is how will this be communicated? There will have to be significant public education about the dangers of wheeled walkers," Walker said.

"As long as they are still available through garage sales, flea markets or online ordering, they are still a danger to children."

The ban covers not just sales of new walkers, but prohibits the selling of second-hand products as well.

There has been a voluntary industry ban on the items since 1989. But Health Canada says that in recent years increasing numbers of the once popular products have found their way onto the Canadian market.

People who have baby walkers are being asked to permanently dismantle and dispose of them.

Baby walkers, also called infant walkers, are designed for use by children who are able to sit up, but not yet able to walk on their own.

They've long been viewed as highly dangerous, with reports of children falling down flights of stairs while in the walkers. Injuries have also been reported when children in walkers were able to make their way to unsafe objects that would otherwise have been inaccessible.

The pediatric society surveyed pediatricians in 2002 in an attempt to assess how often they saw injuries related to the use of baby walkers. The survey revealed that even though child safety advocates had been discouraging the use of wheeled walkers for more than a decade at that point, seven per cent of pediatricians had treated at least one walker-related injury in the previous year.

Reference Source 115

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