Choking in infants and young children is one of the most common causes of accidental death in childhood, the third most common, although it is true that it is far behind drowning and traffic accidents.<\/p>\n
Cutting food into sufficiently small pieces, teaching children to chew their food well, preventing them from eating while running, jumping or playing, and preventing them from handling toys or objects with small pieces or from which small pieces can fall off, is vital.<\/p>\n
According to a study produced in 2013 studying nonfatal choking cases of 111,914 children up to 14 years of age that occurred in the U.S. between 2001 and 2009\u00a0published in\u00a0Pediatrics<\/em><\/a>Hard candies are the most dangerous, responsible for 15.51 TTP3T of the accidents registered in that country. They are followed by other candies with other consistencies (12.81 TTP3T).<\/p>\n The next most dangerous is meat (normal meat, not hot dog meat, which usually gets the undeserved bad reputation as the most dangerous baby food). Meat accounts for 12.2% of the cases recorded (in Spain, cured ham and other sausages such as loin count as potentially dangerous meat) and then come bones and bones with 12%.<\/p>\n Candy, meat, bones and thorns account for more than half of all choking cases. The typical hot dog sausage that abounds in children's menus, to the horror of nutritionists who advocate a healthy diet from infancy, is behind 2.6% of the cases.<\/p>\n The problem is that when the choking is with a sausage, it is more often a serious case requiring hospitalization. Its circular shape and its texture that does not fall apart easily are the culprits of its danger. It is recommended to cut them not only in slices, but also lengthwise.<\/p>\n There is also a greater risk of ending up in the hospital with nuts, which share the same size, shape and inability to be washed away with saliva as sausages. Nuts are very healthy, but it is advisable to wait until after the age of five, when the child can chew them with alacrity.<\/p>\n Another 2008 study reported in PubMed<\/a>\u00a0which analyzed data from 1989 to 1998 in 26 U.S. and Canadian hospitals with almost 1,500 pieces of information, showed that the greatest risk occurred up to the age of three years and that peanuts were the food that produced the most choking and sausages the one with the most fatal consequences. Also be careful with .... Grapes, like nuts, are also healthy, but they also have a potentially dangerous shape and size for obstructing the airways.<\/p>\n They should not be given whole. The same goes for olives and cherries, which also come with pits. Raw carrots, like sausages, must be cut very well and lengthwise and make sure that the child will be able to chew them. It is better if we give them cooked and soft if we are not sure.<\/p>\n Special care should also be taken with popcorn, a source of many scares. Batteries, frequently found in different sizes in numerous toys and children's products, are other dangerous objects to watch out for. Especially button batteries, which can not only cause choking, but can also cause serious internal burns due to the chemical reactions generated by their internal products.<\/p>\n Balloons are also a problem. Children play at blowing them up in imitation of adults and can obstruct their airways. Keep them out of reach of deflated balloons and balloons that once looked big and beautiful but are now starting to leak air or gas.<\/p>\n Despite what many believe, one cannot let one's guard down as soon as a child is no longer a baby. The critical age of risk extends to six or seven years of age according to the same study published in\u00a0Pediatrics<\/em>and it is something that can occur even later in life.<\/p>\nIt is important that the products containing them are tightly closed and that children never have loose batteries at their disposal.<\/h5>\n