U.S. Deaths of Children and Teens (Ages 1 to 19) · Suffocation

## What this measures

The number of U.S. residents aged 1 to 19 who died in a year with suffocation of every intent, including hanging and strangulation (WONDER injury mechanism "Suffocation") as the underlying cause of death, counted from death certificates. Annual, final data, from 1999.

## Why it matters

It is one of the leading causes of death for children and teenagers in the United States. Counting each cause on the same basis, year after year, shows which causes are growing or shrinking and how they rank against each other.

## How to read it

Deaths per year. To compare years with different numbers of young people, use the rate (health.cdc.death_rate_1_19.suffocation). The seven causes in this family (health.cdc.deaths_1_19.*) can be ranked against each other for any year.

## What it does not say

Each death is counted once, under its underlying cause as coded from the death certificate (ICD-10), so the causes do not overlap, but they are not every cause: these are seven of the leading ones for this age group. Ages 1 to 19 exclude infants, whose leading causes are different. Final data only: the newest year appears about a year after it ends. The figures describe how many deaths there were; they do not by themselves explain why the numbers moved.

## Source

CDC WONDER Underlying Cause of Death databases (wonder.cdc.gov): 1999-2020 (used for 1999-2017) and 2018 to the latest final year (single race), from the National Vital Statistics System death certificates compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Read through the WONDER API, national figures only, U.S. residents, single years of age 1 through 19. Public domain; use does not imply CDC endorsement. WONDER's data-use restrictions apply: health statistical reporting and analysis only, and no count of 9 or fewer, or rate based on one, is published. Palanor checks monthly; NCHS adds a final year once a year.