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Antje Wilson calls it the best purchase ever. Her three kids, aged six to 10, have used their backyard trampoline every day since she and her husband purchased it two years ago for about $800. They've slept on it, played on it year-round – even shovelling snow off it – and have had neighbourhood kids join in the fun, all without incident.

Now, the Canadian Paediatric Society and the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine both recommend that trampolines should not be used for recreational purposes at home by children or adolescents. That goes a step further than Health Canada, which supports education efforts to advise the public about a trampoline's hazards, but doesn't recommend they not be used.

“Parents should be aware of the seriousness and the frequency of the injuries of using backyard trampolines,” said Dr. John Philpott.

Dr. Philpott is co-author of a position statement published in the July/August edition of Paediatrics & Child Health, the Canadian Paediatric Society's medical journal, released Monday.

In the statement, Dr. Philpott and Dr. Laura Purcell, both Canadian pediatricians, reviewed worldwide medical literature regarding injuries related to recreational home use of trampolines between 1966 and April, 2006.

“The most common injuries seem to be upper limbs, upper extremities,” Dr. Philpott said. “They tend to be fractures, sprains, dislocations.”

Using information mainly from a computerized database that records injuries in 14 emergency departments across the country, the doctors found that from 1990 to 1998, trampoline injuries in Canada among children and adolescents rose from 149 to 557. In 2003, the last year for which Canadian statistics are available, there were 680 injuries.

“The majority of trampoline injuries occur on backyard trampolines as a result of falls on the trampoline mat, negating the notion that spotters around the outside of the trampoline, parental supervision or even safety enclosures can eliminate injuries,” the statement says.

From 1990 to 2001, there was a 56-per-cent increase in the number of hospital admissions related to recreational trampoline use among children and adolescents.

In a Manitoba regional study in 2003, researchers noted one fracture dislocation of the cervical spine, which left an eight-year-old boy paralyzed, and no reported deaths from using trampolines.

The research revealed that the most common age group susceptible to injury is children from five to 14 years old. This may be due to a child's lack of co-ordination, and because several children tend to play on a trampoline at the same time, Dr. Philpott said.

He did not give a reason for the increased numbers of injuries, saying that it was unclear from the data how many children are participating in the activity in Canada. However, the statement says the recreational use of trampolines has increased “dramatically,” particularly in North America, since the 1950s.

A Health Canada publication suggests this may be due in part to trampoline gymnastics becoming an official Olympic event in 2000.

Lisa Gibson, a spokeswoman for Canadian Tire, would not divulge specific information about sales, but said the trampolines “continue to be popular.” She added that the company stresses safety precautions, such as adult supervision and zippered enclosures, and tests its products to ensure they are safe.

Joey Rathwell, Health Canada spokeswoman, said the agency continues to monitor the incidents and injuries associated with the use of trampolines.

“Given that trampoline-related injuries are rarely caused by a mechanical failure of the product, the department's efforts to date have focused on informing and educating parents and caregivers of injury scenarios, and measures that they can take to reduce the risk of injury.”

This includes publishing two documents related to trampoline safety. One document includes suggestions such as:

- only one child, aged six or older, to use the trampoline at a time;

- always supervising a child on a trampoline; and

- only trying somersaults and flips “under the supervision of a certified trampoline instructor in a proper facility.”

But that won't stop Ms. Wilson's kids.

“My kids, because they use it everyday, I know they get exercise,” she said. “It's so much fun for them. I think it's safer than kids riding their bikes.”