Barriers to wearing bicycle safety helmets in The Netherlands
G. H. Seijts, G. Kok, L. M. Bouter and H. A. Klip
Department of Health Education, University of Limburg, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
OBJECTIVE: To explore behavioral factors that determine whether children
(aged 7 to 13 years) wear bicycle safety helmets. DESIGN: Cross-sectional
survey. SETTING: Three Dutch primary schools in Breda, Maastricht, and
Terneuzen, the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred fifty-nine children
aged 7 to 13 years. INTERVENTION: Wearing a bicycle safety helmet for 6
consecutive weeks. RESULTS: Information about experiences with the bicycle
safety helmet was gathered via questionnaires. Wearing a bicycle safety
helmet was described as inconvenient, time-consuming, and uncomfortable.
Children also perceived negative reactions from their social environment.
CONCLUSIONS: Planned health promotion activities will be essential for the
introduction of bicycle safety helmets to be successful. These activities
should focus particularly on developing a comfortable bicycle safety
helmet, creating facilities to store bicycle safety helmets, and changing
negative social norms regarding wearing a bicycle safety helmet.
