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Home › Articles › Home Safety Issues › Choking Concerns for Small Children

Choking Concerns for Small Children

3 Steps Parents Can Take to Avoid Disaster

By Jennifer Lacey

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Non-food Items
Although foods like seeds, chunks of meat, cheese, whole grapes and popcorn can be potential choking hazards to young children, there are numerous household items that also are choking hazards. A few examples are coins, marbles, small balls and latex balloons (especially the plastic pieces that fall off when the balloon pops).

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that in 2003, 11 children under the age of 15 died from toy-related injuries, and 10 of these children died by choking on a toy or part of a toy. In addition, there were more than 200,000 people treated for toy-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms. Children under age 5 accounted for over a third of these injuries. These items can easily obstruct the airway and cause severe brain damage from oxygen deprivation or death.

Preventing Disaster
There are three simple steps that parents and caregivers everywhere can take to help prevent their children from ingesting hazardous items and choking on food:
  1. Make sure your child always sits in his highchair or at the table while eating.
  2. Give infants soft foods that do not require any chewing.
  3. For toddlers, always cut foods into small pieces.

Childproofing your home is of vital importance when you have small children around. Toddlers are very aware of the people around them, and their ability to watch and repeat certain behaviors of their family members may be cute, but adults should be aware of their actions. "Children will mimic parental behavior," Dr. Groner says. "If parents put objects in their mouths such as toothpicks or nails, then their kids will, too."


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