CDC: Boys almost twice as likely as girls to die accidentally
"The death rate for males was almost two times the rate for females, and males had a higher injury death rate compared to females in all childhood age groups."
Here's new report from the Center for Disease Control about accidental deaths of children under the age of 19. At first blush it seems to show nothing surprising - boys are more at risk of accidental injury and death than are girls. The common explanation - boys engage in riskier behavior than girls do.
And that's true generally. Just look at the spike in boys' deaths when they reach 15 years of age. But children under the age of 1? In that category too, boys are significantly more likely to die accidentally than girls.
Not only that, but the most prevalent cause of all deaths in more than one age category is motor vehicle accidents. Given that children under the age of 14 generally don't drive cars, what's the explanation for that?
In fact, in every category of cause (motor vehicle accidents, poisoning, suffocation, falls, etc.) and in every category of age, boys are more likely to suffer accidental death than are girls. Anyone care to explain that?
I don't have an answer.
Are parents and other caretakers less cautious with boys than with girls?
|
| More from Robert Franklin
Stumble It!
