Why are the Japanese living longer?

Background Children ages 5–14 years have the highest rate of bicycle-related injuries in the country. However, helmet use among US children remains low. This paper compares children9s helmet use to that estimated from an earlier study, and explores regional differences by existing helmet legislation. Methods Telephone interviews were completed by 9684 respondents. The subset with at least one child in the household (2409 respondents) answered questions about their bicycle helmet use. Results Almost half (48%) of the children always wore their helmet, 23% (373) sometimes wore their helmet, and 29% (477) never wore their helmet. Helmet wearing was significantly associated with race, ethnicity and child age (p values Conclusions While there has been substantial progress in the number of children who always wear their bicycle helmets, more than half do not. The task at hand is to maximise the use of helmets by taking full advantage of methods that promote consistent helmet use.