Nonfatal Choking-Related Episodes Among Children — United States, 2001

Used in 2 entries

For each citing entry, the verbatim excerpt and Likelier's calculation notes (how the source's number was converted to the lifetime-probability framing) are shown below. Click through to read the full claim ledger.

1. [1] Toddler choking Risk

   Statistic

   160 US children aged <14 died from inhaled/ingested foreign body obstruction in 2000 (ICD-10 W79-W80); ~41% food-related ≈ ~66 food-choking deaths; 17,537 pediatric ED visits for choking in 2001

   “"During 2000, the latest year for which national mortality data were available, 160 children aged <14 years died from obstruction of the respiratory tract associated with inhaled or ingested foreign bodies [...] food and nonfood substances were associated with 41% and 59% of these deaths, respectively [...] an estimated 17,537 children aged <14 years were treated in EDs for choking-related episodes in 2001."”

   Calculation notes

   Provides the ICD-10 W79 (food) vs W80 (non-food foreign body) split used to convert all-cause pediatric choking deaths into a food-specific subset. 160 × 0.41 ≈ 66 food-choking deaths among children <14 in 2000. Later data (Sideris et al. 2021, below) shows roughly 147 pediatric choking deaths per year averaged over 2001-2016 across ages 0-19, with 75% concentrated in children under 5. Combining the two, food-related choking deaths among US children 0-4 sit in the ~50-80 per year band used in the native figure.
   

   Independence note: CDC MMWR analysis draws from NCHS death-certificate data (ICD-10 W79/W80) and CPSC NEISS pediatric ED estimates — the same combined upstream that feeds Chapin 2013 and Sideris 2021. Treat the three surveillance-based sources as one pipeline; the AAP policy statement is the separate clinical authority anchoring the high-risk food list.

   Source date: 2002-10-25 · Accessed: 2026-04-12

2. [2] Unsupervised infant choking Risk

   Statistic

   160 US children aged <14 died from inhaled/ingested foreign body obstruction in 2000 (ICD-10 W79-W80); 41% food-related ≈ ~66 food-choking deaths; 17,537 pediatric ED visits for choking in 2001

   “"During 2000, the latest year for which national mortality data were available, 160 children aged <14 years died from obstruction of the respiratory tract associated with inhaled or ingested foreign bodies [...] food and nonfood substances were associated with 41% and 59% of these deaths, respectively [...] an estimated 17,537 children aged <14 years were treated in EDs for choking-related episodes in 2001."”

   Calculation notes

   Anchors the fatal-choking denominator for the normalized figure. 160 pediatric foreign-body-obstruction deaths in 2000 × 41% food share ≈ 66 food-choking deaths among children <14. Combined with Sideris et al. 2021 (below, which finds 75% of pediatric choking fatalities fall in children under 5), food-related choking deaths among US children 0-4 sit in the ~50-80 per year band. Against a US under-5 population of ~18-19 million, that is ~3-4 per million per child per year; compounded across the five-year 0-4 window, 1 - (1 - 3.5e-6)^5 ≈ 1.75e-5, rounding to ~2e-5 (roughly 1 in 50,000). Same surveillance pipeline (NCHS mortality + CPSC NEISS) as Chapin 2013 and Sideris 2021 — treat the three as one source of truth for the fatal/nonfatal rates.
   

   Source date: 2002-10-25 · Accessed: 2026-07-10

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Toddler choking

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Unsupervised infant choking

What are the odds of a choking emergency if an infant eats unsupervised?

1 in 50,000 lifetime(0.002%)subgroup