The 6 Most Dangerous States in Which to Be a Kid

Accidental child deaths were down 30 percent between 2000 and 2009.

ByABC News
April 18, 2012, 11:47 PM

April 19, 2012— -- intro: Accidental deaths among U.S. children were down by 30 percent, according to a Centers for Disease Control report published Monday.

Because of the reduced numbers, more than 11,000 kids' lives were saved between 2000 and 2009, the most recent year for which data were available. Researchers said the decline was mostly seen in traffic deaths. Despite the good news, however, the numbers also showed that injuries and deaths caused by suffocation and poisoning were on the rise.

"Kids are safer from injuries today than ever before," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a statement. "In fact, the decrease in injury death rates in the past decade has resulted in more than 11,000 childrens' lives being saved. But we can do more. It's tragic and unacceptable when we lose even one child to an avoidable injury."

The most common cause of deaths in U.S. kids was motor vehicle accidents. The report found that other leading causes included suffocation, drowning, poisoning, fires and falls.

Poisoning cases, mostly from prescription drug use, rose 91 percent in the past decade.

CDC experts say education efforts must be put into place to curb prescription drug access. Appropriate prescribing, proper storage and disposal, discouraging medication sharing and state-based prescription drug monitoring programs are all ways to reduce the rising rates of prescription drug overdoses and deaths in the United States.

"This is a sort of good news, bad news report," said Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. "It's great that we've seen a decline, but there is still a lot of work to be done and a lot of opportunities to change things for the better."

States ranged greatly in the number of accidental deaths in children. Massachusetts had the best numbers, with fewer than five deaths per 100,000 children. Mississippi had the worst, with more than 23 deaths per 100,000 children.

Smith said this is not too surprising. A link is often seen between safety regulations within the state and number of child deaths.

"We need to push forward to implement policies and practices that will promote injury prevention, like booster seat laws and graduated driver licenses laws," Smith said. "Massachusetts has a long history of safety culture. It was the first state to pass progressive legislation to protect kids. We should look to their leadership to adopt that protection in other states."

Check out the six most dangerous states to be a kid.

quicklist: 1category: The 6 Most Dangerous States to Be a Kidtitle: Mississippiurl: text: The state has had an uphill climb in fighting poverty and obesity. The 2007 U.S. Census found that Mississippi was the poorest state in the country. Of all 50 states, Mississippi has the lowest average household income. It also has the highest rates of obesity, with seven out of 10 adults in the state either overweight or obese, according to the state's department of health.

Liz Charlotte, director of communications with the Mississippi Department of Health, said the department does its best with the amount of monetary resources available. The department provides education on fire and motor vehicle safety, along with education on how to prevent suffocation during sleep in babies.

"These are not heavily funded programs, but the funding goes to education programs in the most needed areas," Charlotte said. "Our numbers tend to be at the top in most public health issues, but it's good news to see that our limited funds are helping to bring accident child deaths down overall.

"We'll continue to work and hopefully these numbers will continue to decrease," she said.