A few days ago we told you the tragic story of a 2-year-old boy who is almost in a coma because of an almond he aspired without hardly anyone remembering him, arriving at the moment when, trying to extract it, it was already late.
In that same post we told you how important it was not to give nuts to young children, but we still had to comment on other foods that are also very dangerous: these are the foods that children drown more easily.
To comment we have taken a tour of a reference blog in terms of science and food: what science says to lose weight, where more than a month ago we talked about it.
The foods that children drown the most
There are several studies that have analyzed this data in order to offer families information about the danger of food. These studies say what are the foods with which children choke the most, but it does not classify them according to their danger because, to know this, the incidence data would have to be checked against the periodicity of administration.
In other words, the food with which they choke the most does not have to be the most dangerous, because perhaps it is the most consumed. If, for example, I told you that it is bread (which it is not), it would be a mistake to think that it is the most dangerous, because bread is eaten almost daily. Therefore, if the bread caused 10 cases of choking a year, taking into account that all children eat it every day, and peanuts, which children barely eat because parents know they are dangerous, will cause 5 choking a year , we should say that peanuts are more dangerous.
That said, a review of studies from 2010 published in Pediatrics explains that choking is very dangerous, because causes about 70 deaths of children a year in the US, which are many, but much less than the 700 who die in swimming pools and beaches or the more than 1000 who die from traffic accidents.
In Babies and more How to act if the baby chokes on milk?The review authors say the following:
The foods most commonly associated with fatal asphyxiation among children are hot dogs. Hot dogs share the physical characteristics described above for high-risk toys. 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.
Other high-risk foods are hard candies and candies, peanuts and nuts, seeds, whole grapes, raw carrots, apples, popcorn, peanut butter pieces, marshmallows (or "clouds" ") and the gum. Many of these foods, such as round candies, grapes, marshmallows and meat / sausages, share the same high-risk physical characteristics that create effective plugs for the infantile airway.
Similar to rubber balloons, peanut butter can adjust to the airways and form a stubborn seal that is difficult to displace or extract. It is noteworthy that many foods with high-risk characteristics associated with suffocation are human made. These foods are designed and, therefore, are susceptible to change, unlike naturally occurring food products such as certain fruits and vegetables.
Food manufacturers that are frequently consumed by children should, as far as possible, design these products in a way that minimizes the risk of suffocation in the children's group.
A second review, from 2013, offers slightly more defined data. In it we can see the age at which most choking occurs, in the first two years of life:
Though It's not until 6-7 years old when it is observed that the curve stabilizes, from which it is deduced that it is the age from which the risk is lower.
In this study the authors concluded the following:
Of all types of food, rigid candy-sweets were the ones that caused the most choking episodes (15.5%), followed by other sweets (12.8%), meat (other than hot dogs) (12.2 %), and bone bones (12.0%). These 4 types of foods accounted for more than half (52.5%) of cases of choking with known foods. (…) Milk was responsible for 6.7% of all cases of food-related choking, which accounted for more than a third (36.3%) of the episodes among children <1 year.
Hot dogs accounted for 2.6% of cases. Patients who choked on a hot dog were more likely to require hospitalization than those who choked on other foods. In addition, patients who choked on seeds / nuts were more likely to require hospitalization than those who choked on other foods.
(...) The number of episodes of choking by candy-sweets (both hard and soft) increased with age. At 4 years, 55.2% of the choking episodes were from candy-sweets. In addition, patients 0 to 4 years of age were more likely to drown with fruits / vegetables than patients 5 to 14 years.
The latter is logical for a simple reason: children from 0 to 4 years are not usually given candies, but from then on, and that is why the cases increase, because it is still not really safe at all.
A third study that analyzes choking in children up to 14 years concludes the following:
Peanuts accounted for 26% of all injuries and hot dogs 16% of all deaths, these two foods occupying the first two positions in each modality. Hot dogs, candy-candies, meat, peanuts, carrots, apples and popcorn were the ones most at risk for young children.
Among the 10 foods that caused the most injuries to children under 3 years of age, peanuts, popcorn, apples, sunflower seeds and carrots were above candy, hot dogs, meat (unspecified), bones and chicken ( boneless).
Among the 10 foods that caused the most deaths, apples, bread, carrots and cookies were only related to children under 3 years. All deaths from hot dogs occurred in children less than 4 years old.
In Babies and more The tragic story of the two-year-old boy who is almost in a coma because of an almondIn summary
It follows that there are many foods that cause choking in children, being the most dangerous those who hardly melt in the mouth or respiratory tract, or that have such a form that they are able to block the passage of air.
It is surprising (or perhaps not so much) to know that many of these foods they don't exist in nature, which are the work of humans, that create them with a consistency and form that make them dangerous for children, precisely when they are the biggest consumers (candies, sausages, ...).
So yes, peanuts are dangerous if they are eaten whole, candies too, and sausages, if we give them as is and not chopped. Similarly raw vegetables and fruits, whose consistency is hard, such as carrots or apples, which should eat grated or thin slices, so that if they choked on them they could continue breathing.
Finally, remind you what the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap) Explains about nuts (extensible to candies and other hard foods):
It is absolutely forbidden to give children under 5 or 6 years of age nuts (whole), because if you choke on them you can either suffocate, or cause a lung injury from the oil that these products distil. In any case, you would need urgent treatment, first for you and then in the ER. If you have nuts in your home, make sure they are not within your child's reach.
Photos | The 5th Ape, Donnie Ray Jones on Flickr
In Babies and more | What to do when a baby chokes (video), Why nuts are dangerous for children ?, A two-year-old child almost dies choked by an olive, what to do in these cases?
