Eric Martlew's private members Bill will be considered at a later session of Parliament after too few MPs turned up to support it (News, 28 April-4 May).
But Anne Campbell, Labour MP for Cambridge, has tabled an early day motion that says making it a criminal offence for children to cycle without wearing helmets will "discourage children from cycling and have a detrimental effect on child obesity", which is the "greatest threat to child health".
Campbell, who was unable to make it to the debate on Martlew's Bill, said: "I will always encourage children to wear cycling helmets - I'm a keen cyclist and always wear one myself. But it's the mandatory use that really worries me, particularly for use in parks. The number of head injuries from accidents that could be prevented by wearing cycling helmets is absolutely miniscule, but the number of premature deaths from obesity is likely to be very much higher."
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