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Sand playground surfaces may decrease the risk of arm fractures from falls

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Fitting school playgrounds with granite sand surfacing rather than wood fiber surfaces significantly reduces the risk of children fracturing their arms, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine.

Researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada examined the rates of arm fracture from falls using two types of playground surfaces: granite sand and engineered wood fiber. Despite standards for the type and depth of surfaces used in school playgrounds, the researchers noted that there is little information about the ability of different surfaces to prevent injury.

According to a PLoS Medicine press release, the researchers took advantage of planned playground replacements in a number of schools by the Toronto School District Board to perform a randomized, controlled trial comparing the impact of granite sand and engineered wood fiber in preventing arm fractures from falls.

The researchers found that of the 19 schools that complied with the surface to which they were randomly assigned, falls from a standing height or off of playground equipment onto wood fiber surfaces resulted in more arm fractures than falls from those heights onto granite sand during the 2.5 year study. They also discovered that the risk of an arm fracture was 4.9 times greater on a wood fiber surface than a granite sand playground. The rates of arm fractures and other injuries that were not the result of falling from those heights were not significantly different between the two surfaces.

The mean fall height onto wood fiber surfaces was 213cm. The mean fall height onto granite sand surfacing was 218cm.

The researchers cited a small number of fractures that occurred in either group as being a weakness of the study. However, they concluded that updating playground safety standards to recommend granite sand “will reduce the most common and severe injuries seen on modern playgrounds, without limiting access to healthy outdoor play.”

For more information

• www.plosmedicine.org.

Reference:

• Howard AW, Macarthur C, Rothman L, et al; School playground surfacing and arm fractures in children: A cluster randomized trial comparing sand to wood chip surfaces. PLoS Med. 6(12): e 1000195.