1,200 accidents at kids cafes since 2019 -- trampolines the biggest culprit

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Accidents at kids' cafes are rising, with trampolines accounting for the largest proportion, prompting a government agency to issue a warning.

According to the Korea Consumer Agency, 1,205 accidents occurred at kids' cafes -- indoor playing facilities for children -- from 2019 to 2023. The number of accidents went from 397 to 150 in 2020 and 97 in 2021, likely due to COVID-19 social distancing -- but the number rebounded to 225 in 2022 and 337 in 2023.

The data showed that by equipment, trampolines were related to the most number of reported accidents with 370. Bone fractures accounted for 38.9 percent of trampoline-related reports, followed by bruises (27 percent), and sprains (18.4 percent).

The data showed that toddlers were the most likely age group to have accidents at kids cafes. Of the 1,165 accidents where victims' ages were verified, cases involving children aged 1-3 accounted for 471 of them.

The KCA advised adults to monitor the children at all times and to put non-slip socks on them for protective measures, while also telling them children should use the trampoline with kids who were a similar age and size.

Government data indicates that kids cafes have rapidly grown in size in the past decade. The Tourism Ministry's yearly report does not tally the number of kids cafes specifically, but the number of "other amusement facilities" -- which include kids cafes -- increased drastically from 61 in 2013 to 2,280 in 2022.

In comparison, the number of amusement went from 297 to 480 in the same period.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)