By Randy Dotinga MONDAY, Nov. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Inflatable
bounce houses and moonwalks are springboards for childhood fun,
but they're also the source of an alarming number of children's
injuries, a new report warns. On average, 31 children a day are
transported to U.S. emergency departments for treatment of
bounce-house injuries, including fractured bones and muscle
damage, the study found. "If this was an infectious disease,
we'd call it an epidemic and it would be on the front pages all
over the country," said study co-author Dr. Gary A. Smith,
director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at
Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. "Our message
is that we want children to get up off the couch and be active,
but we also like to inform parents of the risks of those
activities," Smith said. As the popularity of inflatable
bouncers has ballooned, so have reports of hurt children.
Between 1995 and 2010, the rate of injuries jumped 15-fold, with
the most rapid boost seen in the last few ye