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Impact of Safe Toy Education on Toy-Related Injury Prevention Practices among Parents of Young Children in Nigeria

Abstract

Toy-related injuries are an important child health and injury-prevention concern because young children may be exposed to hazards associated with inappropriate toy selection, small detachable parts, sharp edges, toxic materials, excessive noise, unsafe batteries, cords, and toys that are unsuitable for their age or developmental stage. Parents play an important role in preventing toy-related injuries through appropriate toy selection, inspection, storage, supervision, and maintenance. However, limited parental awareness of toy safety standards, age recommendations, choking hazards, product defects, and appropriate supervision may contribute to preventable injuries among young children. Safe toy education provides an opportunity to improve parents' knowledge of common toy hazards and promote safer practices when purchasing, using, inspecting, and storing toys. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of safe toy education on toy-related injury prevention practices among parents of young children in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Social Ecological Model. The Health Belief Model explains how parents' perceptions of children's susceptibility to toy-related injuries, perceived severity of potential injuries, perceived benefits of safe toy practices, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence preventive behaviours. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes observational learning, behavioural modelling, self-efficacy, reinforcement, and environmental influences in developing appropriate child-safety practices. The Social Ecological Model emphasizes the influence of parents, children, households, communities, manufacturers, retailers, regulatory institutions, and the broader environment on toy safety and injury prevention. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how safe toy education may influence toy-related injury prevention practices among parents of young children in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise parents or primary caregivers of children aged 0–5 years residing in selected urban, semi-urban, and rural communities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, local government areas, communities, households, and eligible parents or caregivers. Safe toy education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to toy-safety education sessions, frequency and duration of education, knowledge of age-appropriate toys, awareness of choking hazards, recognition of small detachable parts, knowledge of sharp-edge and point hazards, awareness of unsafe cords and strings, understanding of battery-related risks, knowledge of toxic materials, awareness of toy hygiene, understanding of toy safety labels and age recommendations, and knowledge of appropriate toy inspection and storage practices. Toy-related injury prevention practices will be assessed using indicators such as checking age recommendations before purchasing toys, inspecting toys for broken or loose parts, avoiding toys with small detachable components for young children, keeping unsafe toys away from children, maintaining appropriate supervision during play, storing toys safely, replacing damaged toys, securing batteries, keeping cords and strings away from young children, cleaning toys appropriately, and reporting or removing defective toys from use. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, toy-safety knowledge assessment instruments, household observation checklists, toy-safety practice assessment tools, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize parents' demographic characteristics, children's age groups, toy-use patterns, sources of toy-safety information, exposure to education, and injury prevention practices. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the impact of safe toy education on toy-related injury prevention practices. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, injury prevention practice scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that safe toy education has a significant positive impact on toy-related injury prevention practices among parents of young children in Nigeria. Parents exposed to structured and practical toy-safety education are expected to demonstrate safer practices in selecting, inspecting, storing, and supervising the use of children's toys than parents without comparable exposure. Education may improve parents' ability to recognize choking hazards, age-inappropriate toys, sharp components, loose parts, unsafe batteries, cords, and potentially harmful materials. Practical demonstrations may also strengthen parents' ability to inspect toys regularly, remove damaged toys, supervise young children during play, and follow age-specific safety recommendations. However, financial constraints, limited availability of certified toys, inadequate product-safety information, informal toy markets, poor enforcement of toy-safety standards, and parental time constraints may reduce the effectiveness of education alone. The study therefore expects accessible, practical, culturally appropriate, and continuous safe toy education, supported by effective product-safety regulation and parental supervision, to contribute significantly to improved toy-related injury prevention practices among parents of young children in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on child injury prevention, toy safety, parental health education, child health, household safety, consumer product safety, health promotion, injury epidemiology, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, relevant consumer protection authorities, state ministries of health, primary healthcare centres, paediatric healthcare providers, schools and childcare centres, parents, retailers, toy manufacturers, community health workers, public health practitioners, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for reducing toy-related injuries among young children. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening parental toy-safety education, improving awareness of age-appropriate toy selection, promoting regular toy inspection, strengthening enforcement of toy-safety standards, improving product labelling, increasing access to safer toys, and developing sustainable child-injury prevention interventions across Nigeria.

Keywords: Safe toy education, toy-related injury prevention practices, parents, young children, child safety, toy safety, injury prevention, parental health education, consumer product safety, Nigeria, public health.