Child deaths have risen by a tenth to a 15-year high, fueled by pandemic suicides, overdoses and homicides.
Between 2019 and 2020, the death rate for those ages 1 to 19 increased by 10.7 percent and by another 8.3 percent the following year, according to a new study that analyzed CDC numbers.
That’s the highest increase in two consecutive years in the 50 years that the government has made such figures public, the paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in March.
This staggering turn in infant mortality was not caused by Covid, but by increased violence, self-harm and drug abuse – with guns the leading cause of death.
The pandemic — which strained mental health services and isolated children at home — “poured fuel on a fire” that has been burning among American youth for at least a decade, the study warned.
Between 2019 and 2020, the death rate for those ages 1 to 19 rose 10.7 percent and rose another 8.3 percent the following year, according to a new study that analyzed CDC numbers
The Covid death rate for those aged 1 to 19 was 0.24 deaths per 100,000 in 2020 – but that is dwarfed by the increase in injury deaths, which was 12 times higher at 2.80 deaths per 100,000
The Covid death rate for those aged 1 to 19 was 0.24 deaths per 100,000 in 2020 – but that was overshadowed by the rise in injury deaths, which was 12 times higher at 2.80 deaths per 100,000.
“I haven’t seen this in my career,” said lead author Steven Woolf, MD, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“For decades, the overall death rate among American children has steadily declined, thanks to breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of diseases such as premature birth, childhood cancers and birth defects.
“We are now seeing a dramatic reversal of this trajectory, which means our children are now maturing less quickly. This is a red flashing light. We must understand the causes and address them immediately to protect our children.”
Suicide rates among children ages 10 to 19 began to rise in 2007, and homicide rates in this age group began to rise in 2013.
Since then, the suicide death rate has risen by 70 percent and the homicide rate by a third.
Woolf said the “probable contributors to both trends include increased access to firearms and a deepening mental health crisis among children and adolescents.”
During the pandemic, demand for mental health care far outstripped supply, leaving young patients particularly vulnerable. Children as young as eight went to the doctor with thoughts of suicide.
Lois Lee, a pediatric emergency physician at Boston Children’s Hospital and president of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention, told The Wall Street Journal“We’re seeing younger and younger patients coming in with mental health crises, and even 8-10 year olds with suicidal thoughts.”
Opioid abuse, exacerbated by the fentanyl crisis, has skyrocketed, and overdose rates for children aged 10 to 19 began to rise just before the pandemic.
While the pandemic did not set these trends in motion, it may have added fuel to the fire, argues Woolf.
Injury mortality among those aged 10 to 19 increased by 23 percent from 2019 to 2020.
The number of children between the ages of 10 and 19 who attempted suicide by poisoning increased by more than 70 percent in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic numbers
Many more children started to commit suicide by poisoning during the Covid pandemic. The number of attempts increased by about 30 percent, the GGD reports
Much of this increase was due to homicides rising 39 percent, and overdose deaths skyrocketing 114 percent.
Among younger children ages 1 to 9, injuries accounted for two-thirds of the 2021 increase in death rates.
Firearms “play a central role in this crisis,” Woolf said. Guns are the leading cause of death among youth ages 1 to 19 and were responsible for nearly half of the increase in all-cause deaths in 2020.
“Current efforts to understand gun violence, break the political deadlock, and enact sensible gun policies are not moving at the speed required for child suicides and homicides,” Woolf wrote.
He added: ‘Medicine and public health have made remarkable strides in reducing childhood death rates, but the lives they have saved are now endangered by man-made pathogens.
“Bullets, drugs and cars are now driving youth death tolls high enough to increase death rates from all causes, the largest increase in recent history.
“Without bold action to reverse the trend, children’s risk of not reaching adulthood may increase.”