The number of children in the United States that die from choking on food is shockingly high. It’s easily preventable, yet the American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that at least one child in the U.S. dies every five days from choking on food, reports Shelby Lin Erdman from CNN. The American Academy of Pediatrics has rated choking as the leading cause of death among children under the age of 14.
Dr. Gary Smith, a pediatrician and immediate past chairman of the Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said, “For many years, the U.S. has protected children from choking on toys. We have legislation. We have regulation. We have voluntary standards. We have labeling. We have recall programs… But we don’t have a consistent set of measures that have been put together for prevention of choking on food.” So to try and decrease the number of children who die from choking on food, the largest pediatrician group in the U.S. is “calling for warning labels on foods that pose the highest risk for choking,” states Erdman.
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