Parents slammed by medical experts over popular #eggprank trend on TikTok watched by millions
EXPERTS have slammed parents taking part in the latest TikTok trend which has been watched by millions of people.
Currently sweeping the social media site is the popular #eggprank craze where parents are filmed cracking an egg on a young child’s head.
However, medical experts have slammed those taking part, warning of the potential damage it could do.
In most videos posted to TikTok, a parent is usually seen with a youngster in the kitchen.
The parent is seen taking a raw egg and telling the unsuspecting child they are going to crack it open.
But instead of doing it in a pan or bowl, they crack it on the kid’s head before pouring the egg into a bowl or pan.
The trend has now taken off despite in some videos the child appears to be upset or stunned and in some the child appears to cry.
In a couple of instances the child gets their revenge by throwing an egg back at the parent.
As of Tuesday, the videos using the hashtag #eggprank had notched up more than 670million views, according to NBC.
Some of those had managed to gain as many as 6m views each.
Medical experts though have warned there could be side-effects to the prank, including bruising on the head or spreading germs.
Dr Meghan Martin, who works at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in Florida as a paediatric emergency medical consultant, and who has 1.3m followers on TikTok, said: “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.
“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, and so they’re more likely to end up in the hospital for IV fluids.”
Paediatric occupational therapist Amanda Mathers tried the prank out on herself.
She said 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, not everyone was convinced by the possible harm the prank could do.
Rebecca Burger-Caplan, clinical director of child, adolescent and family services at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, said a one-off experience such as the egg prank is unlikely to have long-term impact.
The Sun Online has contacted TikTok for comment.