Nursery rhymes can keep the young and old safe

Humpty Dumpty's great fall from a wall has inspired tests on chicken eggs to study the biomechanics of head injuries in humans. — Filepic

Nursery rhymes can teach the importance of safe play and occupational hazards to help both young and old reduce their chances of head injuries, suggests an expert in the Christmas issue of The BMJ.

Declan Patton at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Injury Research and Prevention and Minds Matter Concussion Program analysed seven popular nursery rhymes involving or suspected of involving fall related head injuries.