Unintentional injury, including motor vehicle crashes, falls, and cuts, is a major risk to children’s health and the leading cause of death for children over age 1. Parents of children aged 5 and under were asked if their child had required medical attention for an accidental injury or poisoning over the past year. While fewer than 1 percent (0.6 percent) of children had been poisoned, 9.4 percent had had an injury that required medical attention.

Boys may be more likely to experience serious injury than girls: 10.5 percent of boys aged 0-5 had an injury requiring medical attention, compared to 8.2 percent of girls in this age group. A similar disparity is evident in the reported rates of poisoning. Of boys aged 0-5, 0.7 percent were reported to have had a poisoning that required medical attention in the past year, as did 0.5 percent of girls aged 0-5.

Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) may be especially likely to need medical care for their injuries. Of CSHCN aged 0-5, 14.5 percent had an injury requiring medical attention, compared to 8.8 percent of children without special health care needs. Similarly, almost twice as many CSHCN in this age group (1.1 percent) were reported to have experienced an accidental poisoning than children without special health care needs (0.5 percent) of the same age.