Be cognizant of the issues faced by single-parents, working parents, parents who are overweight/obese themselves, and those with other physical restrictions.Running head: CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SAFETY STATISTICS 1
LEADERSHIP AND INFLUENCE 6
CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SAFETY STATISTICS
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Introduction
Safety is an important aspect of human lives of all ages, and its achievement and sustenance is being aimed at globally. Those vulnerable most in this case are the young children and the adolescents, who are still dependent on parents and guardians to keep them healthy and safe. The wellbeing is when an individual is safe and healthy, and is part and parcel of the quality of life. This wellbeing also includes mental health, when an individual can also fulfill their goals, both social and personal, and general wellbeing includes aspects such as income, education, general health and safety as objective measures, and also aspects such as happiness, satisfaction and quality of life. The aspect of children and adolescent wellbeing, both physically and mentally, is therefore important, as it will factor in an individual’s well being when they grow up, and therefore a stable, safe and healthy childhood and adolescent is very crucial for any generation. There are several factors to be looked at when dealing with child and adolescent well being, and they include education, culture, gender, family and parenting (Kahl, Dortschy & Ellsasser, 2007).
Health and Well-Being
The measures for physical health include self reported health, child mortality, infant mortality, birth weight, breastfeeding, immunization, hearing and vision, height and weight, chronic conditions, development process and dental health. The healthy behavior and lifestyle include things such as non intentional accidents, safety behaviors, physical activity, injuries and exercises. Some measures that promote healthy childhood and adolescent life include things such as immunization, as it lowers the child mortality and also gives them strong health advantages. Globally, the percentage of death contributed by unintentional injury is very large, and presence of healthy behaviors can reduce this percentage significantly (Fauth & Thompson, 2009).
Safety Regulations
Over the past few decades, the regulations regarding safety and health of children and adolescents have increased, and measures have been put in place by governments globally, although they differ in legislation and enforcement. Some of the interventions include the introduction of the requirement for minimum age fro drinking, where minors aren’t allowed to drink alcohol. Novice drivers are also regulated regarding the blood alcohol concentration. Laws regarding wearing of helmets when riding bicycles and motorcycles have also been introduced. Laws regarding seat belts, helmets and child restraint are also being enforced, and did not exist when we were growing up. Regulations regarding speed limits around children play areas, schools and residential areas have also been introduced. Systems regarding Graduated driver licensing have also been enforced to try and curb the road accidents (CDC, 2012).
When it comes to the risk of drowning for children and adolescents, several regulations have also been introduced, which include the covering or removal of water hazards, sufficient (four side) fencing around swimming pools, availability of standby resuscitation and also wearing of floatation devices. When it comes to the risk of burns, regulations regarding smoke alarms, installation of burn centers, child resistant lighters and also laws regarding water temperatures are also being enforced now (Harvey et al, 2009)
The risk factor of falling from heights for children and adolescents has also been regulated, where laws regarding designs of childcare facilities and learning institutions, e.g. furniture designs and other products are now being enforced. The playground standards have also been established, regarding maintenance of equipment, height of equipment, surface material, window guards and several community programs are now being enforced. Laws regarding poisoning do exist now, and include aspects like the removal of toxic agents, packaging of several products that may be poisonous like medicine, packaging quantities that will not be lethal and also the installation of poison control centers are now being enforced too (Harvey et al, 2009).
All these legislations and safety measures like the requirement to have protective helmets, seat belts and child passenger restraints have greatly reduced the mortality rates through road accidents. The legislation covering domestic injury risks like smoke alarms, four side fencing of swimming pools, removal of water hazards among others have also reduced the domestic injuries reported. Regulations regarding poisoning like the child resistant packaging and child resistant lighters have also greatly reduced deaths and injuries from these risk factors, and establishment of poison centers and also burn centers have worked to reduce the severity of the injuries (Harvey et al, 2009).
Injury Statistics
The injury risk differ from toddlers, children and adolescents, because of their level of activity and also their physical coverage, as adolescents roamed more than the toddlers or small children. Studies have been carried out to ascertain the injury statistics among toddlers, children and adolescents. One particular study carried out a research among 6,813 parents where they were asked to give some data on their child safety measures. It was found out that within a period of twelve months when the study was carried out, 15.9% of the children had suffered at least one injury. Of this percentage, 15.2% of them were due to accidents and only 0.8% was as a result of assault. When it comes to the factor of gender, it was found out that boys suffered more injuries, with 17.9% being boys, as opposed to girls who had a percentage of 14% (CDC, 2012).
In a study of 2,410 injured children, 13.3% of them were hospitalized, and among toddlers, two thirds of them were accidents that occurred domestically, and among the adolescents aged five to twelve, 32.1% of the injuries were from activities such as sports and leisure. Among the adults aged 15 to 17, 38.9% of the injuries were from sports and other leisure activities. From infancy when a child is growing up to school going age, the number of accidents do rise significantly, and in day care facilities and school, the number of accidents tripled, from 10.9% to 28.7%, and the traffic accidents between these periods also tripled from 5.6% to 16.7% (CDC, 2012).
Three injury mechanisms stood out to be counted as notorious for toddlers, children and adolescents. One of the mechanisms was falling on level ground, where 35.2% of injuries were from falling on level ground. The other mechanism is falling from heights, through which 25.2% of toddlers, children and adolescents suffered injuries, the toddlers faced highest risk in this mechanism. The third mechanism is collision, either with other people or objects, and this contributed to 20.6% of the injuries, especially in toddlers. The risk levels of these three mechanisms differed with age, as small children were at the highest risk, 35.8%, from falling from heights. In adolescents, the risk factor from strains, sprains and contusions rose to 50.9%, becoming the highest risk factor for this age group. The risk from bone fractures for toddlers increased from 10.7% during toddlerhood to 21.8% in adolescent age. The factor of socio economic status on injuries was not found in the study, but for traffic accidents, children from a lower socio economic status were at a higher risk than those children from a higher socio economic status as they suffered more traffic accidents (Statham & Chase, 2010).
References
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). An Agenda to Prevent Injuries and Promote the Safety of Children and Adolescents in the United States. Retrieved on 10th April 2015 from http://www.cdc.gov/safechild/pdf/National_Action_Plan_for_Child_Injury_Prevention.pdf
Harvey, A., Towner, E., Peden, M., Soory, H. & Bartolomeos, K. (2009). Injury prevention and the attainment of child and adolescent health. Retrieved on 10th April 2015 from http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/5/08-059808/en/
Kahl, H., Dortschy, R. & Ellsasser, G. (2007). Injuries among children and adolescents (1-17 years) and implementation of safety measures. Results of the nationwide German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS). Retrieved on 10th April 2015 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17514456
Statham, J. & Chase, E. (2010). Childhood Wellbeing: A brief Overview. Retrieved on 10th April 2015 from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/183197/Child-Wellbeing-Brief.pdf
