Day Care Injury Statistics
About 65 percent of 3 to 5 year old American children spend their weekdays in a day care setting. To determine whether time spent in day care increases a child’s risk for accidental injury, a University of Alabama study followed 1,225 children from birth until first grade.
The quantity and quality of childcare received was tracked for all children, as well as their injury histories. The study showed that children who spent more time in child care were actually at a slightly reduced risk of injury. This was true both for licensed child care centers and for unlicensed family day care environments. No significant relationship was found between quality of child care and risk of injury to the child.
An earlier study analyzed injury rates at 1,797 day care centers across the country, and found an injury rate of 1.5 injuries per 100,000 child hours in day care. This translates to an annual injury rate of approximately 3% of all children in day care. The rate of severe injuries (fractures and concussions) was 0.19 per 100,000 child hours in day care. The most common injuries were cuts, bruises, fractures, and dental injuries. Most (51 percent) occurred on the playground. Day care centers with religious affiliations reported higher injury rates than non-religious facilities.
Sources
David C. Schwebel , Carl M. Brezausek , and
Jay Belsky. Does Time Spent in Child
Care Influence Risk for Unintentional Injury?
Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access
published on March 1, 2006, DOI 10.1093/jpepsy/jsj007.
J. Pediatr. Psychol. 31: 184-193.
http://jpepsy.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/31/2/184
Briss, Peter A., Sacks, Jeffrey J., Kresnow,
Marcie-jo, O'Neil, Joann, Addiss, David G.
A Nationwide Study of the Risk of Injury
Associated With Day Care Center Attendance
Pediatrics 1994 93: 364-368
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/93/3/364
