Number of accidental deaths of children 29% drop in 10 years

Children’s accidental deaths dropped 29% in 10 years. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presented a research report on the 16th saying that in the past ten years, children under the age of 19 in the United States...

The number of accidental deaths among children has dropped by 29% in 10 years. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on the 16th that the number of accidental deaths among children and adolescents under the age of 19 in the United States has decreased by 29% in the past decade, from approximately 12,400 to approximately 9,100 per year. However, the death rates from infant suffocation and adolescent poisoning have increased. Accidental injury remains the leading cause of death for children under 19, with one person killed every hour due to fires, falls and other accidents. More than half of the children who die accidentally every year are killed in car accidents. The decrease in accidental death of children from 2000 to 2009 is closely related to the 41% drop in the number of car accident deaths. Officials believe the decrease in car accident deaths is related to improved child safety seats and enhanced training for teenage drivers. Child deaths from drowning, fires and falls have also dropped significantly. However, compared with 2000, the number of poisoning deaths among children aged 15 to 19 increased by 91% in 2009, mainly due to overdose of prescription drugs. The same trend is seen across the U.S. population as a whole. In 2009, 824 children and teenagers died from accidental poisoning, more than half of whom were young people aged 15 to 19. The CDC says some children appear to be using prescription drugs instead of marijuana to get high, and some are stealing their parents' drugs. In 2009, 1,160 children died of suffocation, a 54% increase from 2000, of which approximately 1,000 were infants under one year old. The CDC reiterates its call for parents to place babies on their backs to sleep, remove loose bedding and soft toys, and take other steps to make cribs and sleeping areas safer. The study found that accidental child deaths fell in every U.S. state, with the largest declines occurring in Delaware, Iowa, Oregon and Virginia. Mississippi still has the highest death rate, with 25 accidental deaths per 100,000 children under the age of 19 in 2009, while Massachusetts has the lowest death rate, with only four deaths per 100,000 people.