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Child abuse bigger threat than sudden infant death syndrome

By NBC
By Kristin Muckerheide

Child abuse bigger threat than sudden infant death syndrome

February 6, 2012 Updated Feb 6, 2012 at 3:02 PM CDT

A new report shows that child abuse and injuries resulting from it are a bigger threat to children than sudden infant death syndrome.

The study results indicated that 4,600 children were hospitalized with serious injuries in 2006 due to child abuse.

Babies under the age of one were the biggest victims, with 58 cases of physical abuse per 100,000 infants.

The highest rate of abuse was among children under age one who were covered by Medicaid, the government's health insurance for the poor. One of every 752 of those infants ended up in the hospital due to child abuse and neglect.

The children's average hospital stay was a week long; 300 of them died.

"There is a national campaign to prevent SIDS," said Dr. John Leventhal of Yale University, who led the new study. "We need a national campaign related to child abuse where every parent is reminded that kids can get injured."

The study, which was published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, used data from the 2006 Kids' Inpatient Database---the last such numbers available.

Read the original story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46281207/ns/health-childrens_health/

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