As a parent, you’ll know full well that kids frequently pick up and try to swallow small objects – most noticeably bits of Lego. But despite how common this is, little research has actually been done in the area.
That is until researchers stepped in and started swallowing Lego, all in the name of science. Six paediatric health‐care professionals were recruited to swallow a Lego head and record the time taken for the object to turn up in their poo.
The results were published in the December issue of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, with the hope of reassuring parents who worry about their kids eating these small toys.
The team came up with two, frankly brilliant, named measurements for the study. The ‘Stool Hardness And Transit’ (SHAT) score, which measured the firmness of their stools, and the ‘Found And Retrieved Time’ (FART), to see how long it took for the object to pass.
They found the average FART score was 1.7 days – although one researcher reported his Lego head went missing never to be found again (despite him searching for two whole weeks). Researchers added: “There was some evidence that females may be more accomplished at searching through their stools than males, but this could not be statistically validated.”
The SHAT results showed that the consistency of the researchers’ stools were not affected by the object they swallowed. The team also said they didn’t feel any pain or side effects from swallowing the small Lego toy.
“A toy object quickly passes through adult subjects with no complications,” the researchers concluded. “This will reassure parents, and the authors advocate that no parent should be expected to search through their child’s faeces to prove object retrieval.”
They did add that because of the small sample size, it’s probably still best not to let your kids know it’s harmless to swallow Lego heads.