According to USA Today, more than 60 percent of food-related choking cases, involving children under the age of 4, are high risk items including hard candies, fruits, vegetables, hot dogs, seeds and nuts.
A new study found that, on average, 12,435 children under the age of 12 are treated annually for non-fatal choking involving food. The amounts to 34 children per day.
According to the August issue of Pediatrics, hard candies cause 16 percent of choking episodes for children under 14. Others include 13 percent from other types of candies, 12 percent from meat other than hot dogs, 12 percent from bones, 10 percent from fruits and vegetables.
"Other high-risk foods, such as hot dogs, which can totally block the airway of a small child, or seeds and nuts, which can be difficult for them to chew, are more likely to lead to hospitalization," said Gray Smith, senior author of the study.
Smith is also the director of the Center of Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital, in Columbus, Ohio. The study was a collaboration with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Data was analyzed from 2001-2009 federal government's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program.
According to the most recent CDC data, 66 children14 years and younger died from choking on food in 2010.
"The main thing with these cases is that they are almost always preventable," said David Walner, a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. "Some things we can't prevent in medicine, and they're sad stories. But these are the saddest because they are almost always preventable by using common sense."
Common sense includes making safer and more appropriate food choices; cutting any foods given to children under age 4 into very small piece and ensuring that kids are supervised and stay seated when eating, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised.
In 2010 the AAP proposed additional choking recommendations, including redesigning of foods that pose a high risk, and the use of warning labels on those foods. A perfect example would be the labels that exist on toys that are considered a choking hazard.
Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, said her group supports the academy's call to better educate parents and caregivers about choking prevention.
"Many of our member hot dog makers remind parents of the importance of these practices via labeling on many packages already. Suggesting we redesign foods seems extreme and won't address the issue the issue of foods that naturally are cylindrical in shape, like grapes," Riley said
