Efforts to prevent child deaths in America have fallen far behind other wealthy countries, a decades-long study revealed Friday.
U.S. child deaths, from any cause, fell at an 8 percent lower rate than deaths in 13 other rich countries, over the last 50 years.
America’s child deaths declined by 89 percent from 1935 to 2023, compared to 96.6 percent in the other nations.
The study also revealed that there have been 800,000 U.S. child deaths from preventable causes during that time – an increase of 200,000 over a previous study from 2018.
Gun violence and self-harm are partly behind this dire statistic, according to new research from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Teenage boys, aged 15-19, account for nearly a third of this number.
“We found that the U.S. child mortality disadvantage has persisted for decades and is now increasingly concentrated among older adolescents, particularly males,” Lauren Koenigsberg, lead author of the study, explained in a statement.
“These findings highlight an urgent need to address preventable causes of death – especially injury, violence and self-harm – where the U.S. continues to lag behind peer nations,” she said.
The U.S., the wealthiest country in the world, has one of the highest rates of child deaths due to gun violence. There are 12 child deaths each day from shootings, according to the non-profit Sandy Hook Promise. The majority of deaths are boys and past research shows that boys are more likely to use guns than girls.
The number of school shootings has also increased twelvefold since 1969. It is now four times more likely that kids will be school shooting victims, a 2024 report from the American College of Surgeons says.
The mental wellbeing of American children has also deteriorated in recent years. More kids have reported feeling lonely, sad, had trouble sleeping or fatigue since the early 2000s, a nationwide study published last July found.
An increasing number of children have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, according to UCLA Health. Children living with depression and anxiety are more likely to harm themselves.
The number of pediatric suicide cases seen in emergency rooms increased by 168 percent between 2016-2021, the Children’s Hospital Association found.
If you are based in the U.S., and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
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