The bad news is that unintentional injuries are the number one killer of children 14 years old and younger. The good news is that the unintentional injury death rate fell 40% from 1987 to 2000.
According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, more than 5,600 children die each year from unintentional injuries - that's an average of 15 per day. In 2000, unintentional injuries caused over 11.8 million medical visits. That's one for every five children!
"Our findings underscore both the value of what we're doing, and the need for Americans to make child injury prevention a priority," said Dr. Martin Eichelberger, president of SAFE KIDS. "We have made tremendous progress, but we can't lose sight of the fact that these injuries remain the leading killer of our nation's children."
The study also found that from 1987 to 2000:
• Motor vehicle occupant deaths for all children 14 and under declined by 16%; for children five to nine it fell only 1%. Motor vehicle occupant injuries are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths among children.
• Unintentional drownings declined by 32%. It's still the second leading unintentional injury-related cause of death.
• Airway obstruction is the number three cause of unintentional injury deaths. The rate for children under 14 fell by 24%. Unfortunately, there was no change in the rate for children under one year old.
• Black children have twice the death rate of white children. The death rate for boys is 1.5 times that of girls.
The SAFE KIDS campaign recommends:
• Children should be properly restrained every time they are in a motor vehicle.
• Children should be supervised by an adult when they are near water. Proper flotation devices approved by the U.S. Coast Guard should be used when children are around water or in boats.
• Parents should remove all choking hazards and small toys from children's reach.
Family Practice News, 7/11/03.
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