This year has begun with the tragic news of a three-year-old boy from Gijón, who has died by choking on a grape while eating the traditional twelve grapes that mark the beginning of the new year.
Choking deaths are a major cause of infant mortality, and most choking episodes occur in children under three years, the group with the highest risk. Having airways with a small diameter, added that they still have an incomplete dentition, chew less food, and can easily get distracted while eating, the risk of choking increases in young children.
The physical characteristics of certain foods such as grapes, olives, sausages, and others that we will mention next, make them more susceptible to getting stuck and causing a blockage of the airways. It is important to know what they are the foods that cause the most chokes in children to avoid offering them in the first years or offering them in an adequate way to avoid accidents.
Popcorn
Popcorn choking in young children is more frequent than we think. Despite being habitual at birthdays, at the movies or at children's parties, popcorn should be delayed at least until four or five years.
AdvertisingA grain of corn could pass into the respiratory tract and cause instant death by suffocation or lodge in some area of the lung and cause a foreign body infection.
Whole Nuts
Nuts such as almonds, nuts, peanuts, corn, hazelnuts, pistachios, as well as seeds such as pipes are hard and small foods With great danger to children.
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics recommends not offering whole, not ground nuts, before 5-6 years due to the risk of suffocation. However, the nutritional benefits of nuts are very suitable for children, so before that age, they can be offered ground from six months.
In Babies and more How to act if the baby chokes on milk?Ham
Ham, as well as stuffed loin and other sausages, are foods that do not crumble easily in the mouth and when children have few teeth and a swallow still immature, are more likely to cause choking.
For that not to happen, you have to offer it crumbled or cut into small pieces that children can easily eat with their hands.
Hard candies and candies
Being round and hard they could be swallowed by the child without getting rid. They could be inhaled by laughing or breathing deeply, and pass into the airways obstructing them.
Therefore it is preferable to avoid them in general and in case of offering them on time, wait until they are able to chew them well.
Jelly beans
Hard foods seem to be the most dangerous a priori, but so are those that have a rubbery consistency like jelly beans. They are soft, but do not melt in your mouth and easily return to their original form.
Precisely because they are soft, these types of products give a false sense of security, but if they do not chew well, they can pass into the child's larynx without getting rid and putting his life at risk.
They do not provide any nutritional value, so it is preferable to avoid them and in case of giving them promptly, after four or five years.
Marshmallows or clouds
This type of harmless-looking jelly beans, also known as marshmallows, are especially dangerous for children, apart from the null nutritional benefit they have for children.
Because of its size and rubbery consistency, which prevents them from easily falling apart in the mouth, could get stuck in the throat and cause suffocation. Like the previous ones, they are sweet with no nutritional value and also harmful to the teeth, so it is preferable to avoid them or delay them as much as possible.
In Babies and more, what to do if my child chokes? Chewing gums
Children should not eat chewing gum until they are able to eat them well, that is, chew them and then spit them out. However, they are not suitable for children because they cause tooth decay and also because of the risk of choking.
The gum could to be sucked in without wanting to laugh or by breathing deeply and getting stuck in the airways.
Grapes
Experts warn about the danger of suffocation of grapes, a fruit whose danger is not as widespread as other foods, but also cause frequent choking.
Whole grapes are round and perfectly sized to completely obstruct a child's larynx. They also have skin, which means they can slide through the mouth without being chewed and pass into the larynx directly plugging the airways.
The correct way to offer them to children is no skin, no nuggets and cut lengthwise into two or three pieces. You never find out.
Cherries
Because of its round shape, because it has a slippery skin and because it contains bone, cherry is another fruit that could cause suffocation if it is lodged in the child's larynx without being properly chewed.
To avoid this, cut the cherry in half or smaller pieces and remove the bone before offering it to children.
Olives
Like cherries, olives are cylindrical in shape and can clog the airways if eaten whole. They also have bone, so you always have to offer them boneless and cut into pieces.
Sausages
Due to their shape, sausages can be very dangerous for children. They are cylindrical, the size of the airways and compressible, which allows them to get firmly stuck in a child's hypopharynx and completely occlude the airways.
To avoid this, we have to offer them in a size that reduces the risk of suffocation when eating them. This is to cut the sausages along, instead of slicing it in width (as we usually do) and then cutting those two strips so that we have the remaining Sausage pieces as half slice. Even if they are small we can cut them even smaller.
In Babies and more These are the foods that children drown more easilyRaw carrot in pieces
Hard vegetables, such as raw carrots, are likely to cause choking in young children if they are eaten whole.
The recommendation is offer it grated if it is going to be given raw or cooked to soften it and cut it into pieces lengthwise, not sliced.
Raw apple in pieces
The consistency of the apple is very similar to that of carrots. Being hard and not falling apart in the mouth could cause choking in children if it is offered raw and in pieces.
To avoid this, you must offer it in a way that does not involve risks, such as grated or made compote and cut into pieces.
Bread
Pasty-textured foods, such as a piece of bread when mixed with saliva, are also dangerous for babies and children because of the risk of choking.
When offering it, it is important that we do it in small pieces, never large pieces that can be swallowed without chewing, and always accompanied by liquids such as water or milk.
Cookies
Some hard consistency cookies They can be dangerous for the little ones. Especially those of rustic style that absorb a lot of saliva and do not melt in the mouth easily.
It is preferable to avoid them in young children, or offer them softened (soaked in milk, for example) or give them in very small pieces.
Fish
Fish is a very healthy food that should be included regularly in the diet of the little ones since the complementary feeding is introduced. But nevertheless, the bones of some fish are a frequent cause of choking.
It is preferable to offer fish that easily melt in the mouth, cut into small pieces and make sure that the bones are well removed.
Meat
Meat is another usual food, but it is very important to offer it safely. A very large piece of meat or a hard piece can get stuck in the throat of the child while eating.
To avoid this, try to offer soft meat, remove the part of the crust if it is very hard, and give it cut into strips or small pieces. In this way, even babies can eat it with their hands safely.
And finally…
To avoid choking, it is also very important watch that children eat calmly and unhurriedly, who are not jumping or running while eating, and of course have notions of first aid to know how to react in case of choking. All parents, as well as professionals working with children, should know how to practice the Heimlich maneuver if it occurs.
