Accidents among children under two years of age in Great Britain

Abstract

Information was collected from 4683 mothers regarding injuries to their children during the first two years of life, all of the children having been born during the week of 3-9 March 1946. Data concerning accidents which received professional treatment were more reliable than those of minor injuries, many of which had been forgotten. The incidence of injuries requiring professional care was 79.6 per 1,000 children. Cuts and burns or scalds both occurred in 37 per 1,000, and fractures in 7.5 per 1,000 children. Serious scalds and burns were generally treated in hospitals, fractures chiefly in O.P departments, and the majority of accidents were treated by general practitioners. The occurrence of accidents was not associated with crowding or domestic conditions, but was associated with the period when the children began to walk, and before they had developed .heat sense.[image] Because there was comparatively little domestic help in homes, most of the children were exposed to hazards of cooking and other housework.