ONCE you learn to ride a bike, you鈥檒l never forget. And a few scraped knees and bruises are an inevitable part of the process. Right?
Not according to Kari Hansen of Haukeland University Hospital in Norway. She has found that children who learn to cycle when aged 6 or 7 suffer far fewer injuries than those who learn when younger. Hansen blames the extra spills suffered by the younger children on their immature psychomotor skills, rather than on inexperience alone.
Hansen asked 1200 parents about when their children learned to cycle and how many injuries they suffered. Of those who started aged between 3 and 5, 17 per cent were injured over the next two years, compared with just 10 per cent of children who started at age 6 or 7. The findings will appear in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.
Advertisement
鈥淚 would recommend that children do not cycle when so young,鈥� Hansen says. Parents should wait until children are older before teaching them to ride, she says.