TORONTO (Reuters Health) - Riding in shopping carts can pose a significant risk of injury to kids, warned researchers at the Canadian Pediatric Society's 80th annual meeting in Calgary, Alberta, this week.

The researchers found that shopping-cart-related injuries were most common in children under 5, with more than a third of the accidents involving skull fractures, concussions and other head injuries. However, shopping-cart injuries rarely require hospitalization, according to the study's lead author.

"Obviously this isn't as serious as something like a motor vehicle collision, but the problem has been around for a long time and it hasn't been adequately addressed." said Dr. Cheri Nijssen-Jordan, director of emergency services at the Alberta Children's Hospital.

Researchers reviewed shopping-cart injuries seen at the Alberta Children's Hospital emergency department from March 1990 to December 2001.

Results show the number of shopping-cart-related injuries has been stable over the last ten years, said Nijssen-Jordan.

"We're seeing the same numbers of kids injured from shopping-cart accidents," she said. "I hoped to see a decrease, since a few companies have redesigned shopping carts. But the design is still not enough to make this form of transportation safe for kids. We need to look for a better solution."

Researchers found that 271 shopping-cart injuries occurred over the examined time period. Of these injuries, 89 percent happened in children younger than 5 years of age, with more than 50 percent in kids ages 2 to 4. Head injuries, including skull fractures and concussions, affected 39 percent of the injured children.

However, few of the injuries required hospitalization -- the admission rate was only 2.6 percent. Overall, shopping-cart injuries accounted for less than one out of every 1,000 visits to the hospital's emergency department.

"This is a relatively small number, but we are looking at a very specific apparatus," said Nijssen-Jordan. "Though this isn't high volume, there is a high rate of children with head injuries, which is a major concern."

The researchers also found that the most frequent modes of injury were falls from the cart (70 percent) and tipping the cart (14 percent), and that boys were hurt more often than girls.

Nijssen-Jordan said she believes that even though shopping carts need to be redesigned to make them safer, parental and societal awareness regarding the problem must increase.

She added that even though this study only looked at one hospital in Alberta, the problem likely exists anywhere shopping carts do.

"Take a walk through your local shopping mall or grocery store and see where parents are in relation to their carts," she said. "See if their kids are trying to climb out and reach the shelves. There's nothing more devastating than going shopping and coming home with a kid who has a head injury. It causes parental anxiety and uses healthcare resources ... and it can be avoided."