Farm kids almost twice as likely to die from injury as children overall

A new retrospective study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows that young farm children, particularly boys, are about twice as likely as the total population of young Canadian children to die from an injury.

Brison and colleagues collected and analyzed Canadian data on fatal agricultural injuries to young children to determine rates, identify patterns and devise prevention strategies on farms and ranches. They found that children 1–6 years old, particularly boys, when on farms are about twice as likely to die from accidental injury as young Canadian children altogether. Most of these mortal injuries occurred at the agricultural worksite. The researchers identified three main ways that such injuries occur, and propose strategies to prevent them.

In a related commentary, Day discusses the importance of these findings and reviews the response to child farm injury in his country, Australia.

Source : Canadian Medical Association Journal