Experts warn parents of a popular TikTok trend that sees adults cracking eggs on their children's heads before cooking them.
The instance most
often leaves the child crying or stunned. The hashtag #eggprank reached more
than 670 million views by Tuesday with some racking as much as six million
views each.
According to Dr.
Meghan Martin, a pediatric emergency medical consultant at Johns Hopkins All
Children’s Hospital in Florida, the prank could have damaging
consequences.
“I was not a big
fan of this at all. This is not something that benefits kids in any way, and I
honestly don’t find it entertaining,” she said.
“We’re literally
smacking salmonella on their foreheads. It’s harder to get a toddler to drink
fluids when they’ve got a stomach bug or food poisoning, so they’re more
likely to end up in the hospital for IV fluids.”
Dr. Amanda
Mathers agreed noting that she tried the prank out on her own head and she
found out that it was “hard to crack that egg on my head and my fully developed
skull.”
“And I almost
felt a shock of, like, tears behind my eyes just trying to slam that egg into
my head.”
However, Mount
Sinai doctor Rebecca Burger-Caplan, stressed that such an experience would not
have long-term damage on children if it remains a one-off.