It’s a silent, often overlooked danger that kills dozens of children every year, and it’s easily preventable: choking to death on food.
Now the largest pediatrician group in the United States is calling for warning labels on foods that pose the highest risk for choking.
The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates at least one child in the United States dies every five days from choking on food. The academy rates choking as the leading cause of death among children 14 and younger.
The group is issuing a policy statement calling on the government and manufacturers to implement a food labeling system warning parents of these risks.
Children 4 and younger are at the highest risk for choking on food. Most only have their front teeth. They can bite off a piece of food, but they don’t have molars in back to grind it.
There are certain types of food that have high-risk characteristics that pose severe choking risks. For example, foods that are round or cylindrical in shape and are roughly the diameter of the back of a child’s throat — these types of foods can completely block the child’s airway. When that happens, the child cannot move air. They then lack oxygen. And if that obstruction is not removed within a short amount of time, brain damage and death will ensue.
The American Academy of Pediatrics lists hot dogs as the highest risk food for young kids. It is exactly the right size and shape to wedge itself down into the back of a child’s throat. It’s compressible so it fits in very snugly, and it’s almost impossible to dislodge. Grapes, raw carrots, apples and peanuts are also dangerous.
The American Academy of Pediatrics wants to see a central database created that includes statistics on the number of children that choke to death every year, similar to the statistics maintained for toys and other consumer products.
In the meantime, the American Academy of Pediatrics lists a few tips on its Web site to help parents with problem foods. It suggests parents:
• Cut hot dogs lengthwise and grapes in quarters. This changes the dangerous shape of the food, which can block throats of young children and even teenagers.
• Avoid giving toddlers other high-risk foods such as hard candy, nuts, seeds and raw carrots.
• Never let small children run, play or lie down while eating.
The American Academy of Pediatrics’ new policy statement on foods that pose a high-choking danger for children 14 and under appears online. It’s scheduled for publication in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics.
