Academy Urges Curbs on Scooter, Skateboard Use

Unless they’re supervised by adults, children younger than 10 shouldn’t use skateboards and those younger than 8 shouldn’t use non-motorized scooters, according to new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Non-motorized scooters have soared in popularity--with an accompanying rise in injuries--in the last two years. The recommendations update the academy’s 1995 skateboard policy, which says children younger than 5 shouldn’t use them at all.

The updated policy appears in this month’s issue of the academy’s medical journal, Pediatrics.