Toy 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:
- At least 16 children ages 9 and under died in 2004 from toy-related injuries.
- Approximately 161,100 children, ages 14 and under, were treated at hospital emergency rooms for toy-related injuries in 2004. Almost half of the children treated for these injuries (45 percent) were ages 4 and under.
- Most toy-related injuries do not require hospitalization (97 percent).
Causes:
- Choking is the leading cause of toy-related death.
- Almost half of the reported toy-related deaths in 2004 were due to choking or suffocation. Most of these deaths were attributed to toy balls, latex balloons and game dice.
- Other causes of toy-related deaths in 2004 included drowning, suffocation, strangulation, 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).
- Riding toys are responsible for the majority of toy injuries among children ages 14 and under.
- The vast majority of riding toy-related injuries in 2004 were associated with unpowered scooters.
Where and when:
- Many toy-related injuries occur in and around the home.
- Approximately half of all toy-related injuries (46 percent) occur to the head and face area.
Who:
- In 2004, children under age 5 accounted for 35 pecent of all toy-related injuries.
- Boys tend to sustain more toy-related injuries (58 percent) than girls.
- Children under age 3 are at greater risk for choking on toys than older children, due to their tendency to put everything in their mouths. In addition, the airways of children under age 3 are smaller than those of older children.
Product recalls:
- In 2004, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced 279 recalls involving about 40 million consumer product units that either violated mandatory safety standards or presented a significant risk of injury to the public. These recalls included ride-on toys (70,000), toy jewelry (150 million) and radio-controlled toy vehicles (300,000).
Contact Us
For additional information on this or any Health Topic, please call the Family Resource Center, 513-636-7606, or your pediatrician.
Rev. 11/06
