210 THE JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH

LET’S LOOK AT THE RECORD B y A. D. BATTEY

Senior Statistician National Sa fe t y Council During the last several years the National Safety Council has

been saying “One out of three children who die is killed in an acci- dent.” In 1946 the proportion was even higher-approximately two out of five children who died in 1946 were killed in accidents.

The National Off ice of Vital Statistics in a recent release gives a total of 32,960 deaths from all causes in 1946 among persons 5 to 19 years old. Of these, 12,342, or 37 per cent of all deaths, were caused by accidents, as compared to 35 per cent in 1945 and 34 per cent in 1941, the last prewar year. However, this increase in the importance of accidents resulted from sharp decreases in deaths from disease, not from increases in fatal accidents. There were, in fact, 916 fewer accidental deaths in 1946 than in 1941.

The second cause of death in 1946 among persons 5 to 19 years old was tuberculosis with a total of 2,693. Heart disease was third with 1,995 deaths.

The accompanying table gives the 1946 record for the impor- tant and well-known causes of deaths for each five year age group from 5 to 19 years. It will be noted that the frequency of deaths for some causes fluctuates considerably from one age group to another. As the population was nearly the same in the three groups, the death totals indicate roughly the relative frequency of occurrence.

Among children 5 to 9 years of age, pneumonia caused the largest number of non-accidental deaths, followed by poliomyelitis, perhaps the most feared disease of childhood. However, deaths from accidents were more than three times as numerous as deaths from pneumonia and polio combined.

Among children 10 to 14 years of age diseases of the heart, with 656 deaths, ranked first’ among nonaccidental causes of death. The next most important cause, pneumonia, was responsible for 484 deaths, and tuberculosis caused 434 deaths. Accidents, however, caused five times as many deaths in this age group as diseases of the heart, and approximately seven times as many deaths as pneumonia o r tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis, with 1,946 fatalities, was the leading cause of nonaccideital death among young people 15 to 19 years of age. There were 959 deaths from heart disease, the next most important cause, and 639 from pneumonia, the third cause. Again, accidents

THE JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH 271

were the outstanding cause of death, accounting for more than twice as many deaths as tuberculosis, pneumonia and heart disease combined.

Among school children 5 to 14 years old, preventive medicine has proved its effective power. In 1930, 19 out of 100,000 of these children died of pneumonia and influenza; in 1946, only 5 out of 100,000 died of these diseases. In 1930, 12 out of 100,000 died of tuberculosis ; in 1946, fewer than 4. In 1930,13 out of 100,000 died of appendititis, and 12 of heart disease; in 1946, only 2 out of 100,000 died of appendicitis and 5 of heart disease.

In 1930, 36 out of 100,000 children 5 to 14 years old, died of accidents; in 1946, 29, an improvement of only 19 per cent. This relatively small decrease indicates the need for more effective work in the field of accident prevention.

* * * * * HIGH-FREQUEKCY ACCIDENT LOCATIONS AND ACTIVITIES*

Kindergarten Through Third GradeSeptember 1947 to May 1948 The numbers opposite each accident classification indicate the frequency

of the class a s measured by the accident rates per 100,000 student-duys. Those designated “1” had the highest rates; those designated “4” had rates much lower. Locaticms or activities which do not appear in the list did not, in a n y mon th of the school year, occur w i th suf ic ient frequency t o warramt listing.

The accident rate f o r each mon th is given on the last line.

Location and Type Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar.Apr. May

Classrooms and auditorium .... 2 .... 4 4 3 4 ........

Swings .................................... 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bars ........................................ 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unorganized activities ........ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1

Motor Vehicle ...................... 2 4 4 ........ 2 4 4 2

Falls ........................................ 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 Burns .......................................................... 4 4 Cuts and scratches ................ 1 1 2 4 3 2 2 3 1

Motor vehicle ....................... 2 1 2 2 3 2 1 3 1 Bicycle .................................... 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Street and sidewalks ............ 3 3 4 .... 1 1 1 1 1 Playgrounds (not school) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Accident Rate ...................... 10.48 9.45 6.89 5.56 7.22 8.32 7.14 6.78 14.55 (per 100,000 student-days)

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