Since 2000, the Toronto District School Board replaced and updated more than 200 of its playgrounds, and another 200 need to be replaced. Recent statistics indicate that it may have been worth it.
A report released this week from a health-sector think tank suggests Toronto is seeing proportionately fewer emergency-room visits from children injured in playground activities than are many regions of Ontario - which the study's author says may be related to new, safer playground equipment at the city's public schools.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information report says that for every 100,000 visits to Toronto emergency rooms, 208.5 of them were children hurt in playground accidents. This was lower than the provincial average of 264.5.
