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Safety and Injury Prevention
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Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among children ages 14 and under. Although this death rate has declined over the years (33 percent between 1987 and 1997), children remain at risk for unintentional injury-related death and disability. Unfortunately, one in every four children each year suffers injuries that are serious enough to require medical attention - this translates into more than 14 million children a year.
Most unintentional injuries occur between May and August, during evening hours when children are most likely to be unsupervised. Almost half of all unintentional injuries occur in or around the home.
However, unintentional injuries are preventable. With proper education, improvements to the children's environment, enforcement of certain safety legislation and regulations, and community involvement, many injuries can be prevented. In fact, up to 90 percent of unintentional injuries can be prevented.
Although unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among children ages 14 and under, certain factors, according to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, increase a child's risk, including:
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- Economics - Children of lower socioeconomic status are at greater risk for unintentional injuries.
- Age - Children age 4 years and under comprise 46 percent of all injury-related deaths among children ages 14 and under.
- Gender - Males are at greater risk for unintentional injury because they tend to participate more often in activities and rough play that can result in injury.
- Geography - Children in rural areas are at greater risk for unintentional injury-related death due to prolonged response and transport time to the remote location when trauma care is needed.
- Race - African-American, Hispanic, and Native American children are at greater risk for unintentional injury because of higher levels of poverty, lower education levels, and employment and income factors among these groups.
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