We’ve written about kids and choking before, but a new study in the Journal of Pediatrics has shown the kinds of things which our children can choke on…. and it’s not just Hot Dogs!

So, what’s new about Choking Children?

A new study of the reasons children turn up in Emergency Rooms shows that between 2001 and 2009, in the USA, about 112,000 children (under 14) visited the ER for non-fatal choking. Doing the maths for you shows that’s just over 33 kids a day, every day. Most were treated and released, but about 1 in 10 needed to be admitted to the hospital(s)

What did they find?

A whole range of numbers, which you can read in great detail in the original article, or in this summary at the Huffington post. Here are some of the details:

• 15% of kids (that’s about 1 in 6) choked on hard candy
• 13% choked on other candy
• 12% choked on (non-hot dog) meat
• 12% on bones

And the Hot Dog which seems to concern so many parents? Just 2.6% (about 1 in 40 choking cases were due to Hot Dogs).
The average age of those treated was four and a half. More boys than girls were treated. Over 1/3 of those kids treated were under one year of age.

What should I do about choking children?

Don’t give candy to kids! Almost 1 in 3 choking cases were due to some sort of candy. OK, so that might not be realistic, so sit down with snacks and supervise their eating up to the age of about 5. Make sure you’ve had correct, up-to-date training so you know what to do if your children choke – this is one topic which changes often!