RT Journal
T1 CUrrent comment
JF Journal of the American Medical Association
JO Journal of the American Medical Association
YR 1949
FD February 26
VO 139
IS 9
SP 588
OP 588
DO 10.1001/jama.1949.02900260034012
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1949.02900260034012
AB OUR GREATEST CHILD HEALTH PROBLEM 
    A statistical summary1 of some of the important causes of death at school age, 1945-1946, gives the lie to recent irresponsible statements concerning the health conditions of our children. A recent release from what should certainly be considered an unimpeachable source (National Office of Vital Statistics) again clearly shows that the greatest problem is continuously and increasingly one of accident prevention. "In a total of 32,960 deaths from all causes in 1946 among persons 5 to 19 years old, 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." Deaths from accidents among children 5 to 9 years of age were three times as numerous as the combined number of deaths from poliomyelitis and pneumonia, the greatest nonaccidental killers and perhaps the most