Toddlers & hot drink burns

Evidence collected by university researchers shows that 30 babies and toddlers require hospital treatment due to hot drink burns every day – equating to around 12,000 pre-schoolers every year. More than 50,000 children in the UK attend hospital with burns each year, with the majority happening to children under five.

Parents are now being urged to take care with hot drinks in a UK-wide prevention initiative, The SafeTea campaign, which launches today (Wednesday 16^th October) on National Burns Awareness Day. The project is backed by leading universities and charities including The Scar Free Foundation.

The experts behind the campaign warn that babies and toddlers have much thinner skin than adults and burn much more easily. Unfortunately hot drink burns to babies and toddlers are serious: they may require long-term treatment including skin grafts and can cause life-long scarring.

The SafeTea campaign – www.SafeTea.org.uk – is based on evidence collected by researchers from Cardiff University, the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England, and is using materials tested in collaboration with early years staff and parents of young children. Launching today, the campaign runs on social media for three months, backed up by health promotion in the NHS, in nurseries and by charities.

Aston spoke to Joseph Nash, case study and also Professor Alan Emond, professor of community child health at the University of Bristol to discuss the research and also raise awareness of hot drinks within the kitchen environment.