Study: Kids More Likely To Die From Cars And Guns In U.S. Than Elsewhere

A new study from the New England Journal of Medicine finds that motor vehicle crashes were one of the leading causes of death among children and adolescents in the U.S. in 2016.

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The major cause of death in children aged 1 to 19 years is not cancer or other another medical condition. It’s injury. And by a long shot – 61 percent, versus 9 percent for cancer.

The largest cause of injury was motor vehicle crashes, and next was firearms, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study sorts through the 20,360 deaths of U.S. children and adolescents in 2016, as counted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The authors of the report also found that the U.S. compares poorly to other countries, both rich and poor, in terms of providing a safe environment for kids.