Toy Safety - Injury Statistics and Incidence Rates

The following statistics are the latest available from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC):

Injury and death rates:

• Approximately 155,400 children, ages 14 and under, were treated at hospital emergency rooms for toy-related injuries in 2003. Nearly half of the children treated for these injuries were ages 4 and under.
• Most toy-related injuries do not require hospitalization (97 percent), however, in 2003, 11 children died due to toy-related injuries. 

Causes:

• Injury from non-powered scooters is the leading cause of toy-related death.
• Sixty-four percent of toy-related deaths in 2003 were due to choking. About 71 percent of those deaths were attributed to toy balls.
• Other causes of toy-related deaths include drowning, suffocation, and riding toy accidents (such as when a child is hit by a motor vehicle while riding a toy, or when the child rides a toy into a body of water).

Where, when, and who:

• Riding toys are responsible for the majority of toy injuries among children ages 14 and under.
• Most riding toy-related injuries occur when a child falls from a toy.
• Almost half of all toy-related injuries (47 percent) occur to the head and face area.
• Children under age three are at greater risk for choking on toys than older children, due to their tendency to put everything in their mouths. In addition, the upper airways of children under age three are smaller than those of older children.

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