More than 15% of childhood deaths in America are due to guns, study says

[DonViejo]

By MELISSA HEALY
DEC 19, 2018 | 6:00 PM

More than 3,000 children and adolescents died of a gunshot wound in the United States in 2016, a new tally of childhood deaths finds. These episodes accounted for 15.4% of all Americans between the ages of 1 and 19 who died in 2016, and a quarter of those killed by injury rather than disease.

As they inch their way back to rates last seen in 1999, childhood deaths attributed to firearms — 3,143 — generated 70% more grieving families than those produced by pediatric cancer — 1,853. Guns also broke the hearts of more than three times as many families than did childhood drownings — 995 — or the combined category of poisoning deaths and fatal drug overdoses — 982.

The figures — the latest and most comprehensive accounting of childhood deaths available — were published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. They were compiled by a team from the University of Michigan.

The number of children who died of a gunshot wound intentionally inflicted by someone else in 2016 — 1,865 — came in just ahead of the 1,852 childhood deaths attributed to birth defects, heart disease and chronic respiratory diseases. The number of children or adolescents who took their own lives with a gun — 1,102 — represents half of all children and adolescents who died by suicide that year.

more
https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-gun-deaths-children-20181219-story.html

[Amishman]

1. Not surprising, teenage suicide is a big problem

And guns are the preferred method of suicide in the US

[Hortensis]

2. Looks like a third of the @3100 deaths were suicides.

A huge number. This study cites it as half the total number of childhood suicides. Guessing that number is lower than average because fewer kids have ready access to a gun.

Btw, in NO way excusing or minimizing these tragic deaths, but the percentage of total deaths could not be that high if modern medicine hadn't dropped the total from birth defects, heart disease and respiratory diseases so low. A wonderful bright spot to note in this sad study.