Increasing car seat use for toddlers from inner-city families.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this project was to increase toddler car seat use in low-income minority families.


METHODS
Families from Newark, NJ, were divided into two study groups. Both groups were given car seats; one group also received education regarding car restraint use. Observations were made of car seat use before car seat distribution, immediately after distribution, 4 to 5 months later, and 1 year later.


RESULTS
Car seat use increased markedly immediately after distribution and remained high 1 year later, regardless of education.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that distributing car seats results in long-term use among a currently low-use population.
Louis
B
B
Institute for the Study of Child Development, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick 08903, USA.
Lewis
M
M
D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007223:Infant; D015370:Infant Equipment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*