What is the number 1 cause of death in children under 5?
Globally, infectious diseases, including pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria, along with pre-term birth complications, birth asphyxia and trauma and congenital anomalies remain the leading causes of death for children under 5 years.
Drowning is a leading cause of death for children. In the United States: More children ages 1–4 die from drowning than any other cause of death. For children ages 5–14, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death after motor vehicle crashes.
Leading causes of death among children aged 1-4 years in the United States 2019. In 2019, the leading causes of death for children aged one to four years in the United States were unintentional injuries and congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities.
The leading causes of under-5 death are premature birth, birth asphyxia and trauma, congenital anomalies, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria.
The most common causes of child injuries are falls, road accidents, drowning, poisonings, and burns and scalds.
Children and adolescents under age 18 represent 22.2% of the United States population. Accidents (unintentional injuries) are the leading cause of death in children ages 1-4, 5-9 and 10-14.
Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death among children under 5, killing approximately 700,000 children a year.
Injuries (including road traffic injuries and drowning) are the leading causes of death among older children and young adolescents. In fact, injuries rank among the top causes of death and lifelong disability among those aged 5–14 years.
Drowning was the leading cause of injury death for children age 1-4 years.
Which of the following are leading causes of death for 5/14 year olds?
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5 to 14 years:
- Accidents (unintentional injuries)
- Cancer.
- Suicide.
The leading cause of death for those younger than 1 year is congenital anomalies, and childhood cancers and heart disease cause a significantly lower percentage of deaths in children older than 1 year of age.

Accidents or unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in children followed by congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities.
Falls. Falls are the most common cause of accidental injury to children. While most falls aren't serious – active children often fall over – some falls can lead to death or long-term disability.
- Accidents or Unintentional Injuries.
- All Injuries.
- Assault or Homicide.
- Suicide and Self-Inflicted Injury.
Sudden infant death syndrome (41%) Unknown cause (32%) Accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (27%)
For teenagers, mortality rates are high for self-inflicted and unintentional causes, like smoking, drugs, alcohol, diet, and exercise. Additionally adult life-threatening illnesses, like cancer and cardiovascular disease, lead to numerous deaths in children and young adults.
Some of the leading causes of infant death in the United States include the following: birth defects; prematurity/low birthweight; sudden infant death syndrome; maternal complications of pregnancy and respiratory distress syndrome.
Characteristic | Percentage of all death causes |
---|---|
Unintentional injuries | 30.6% |
Cancer (malignant neoplasms) | 15.9% |
Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities | 8.2% |
Assault (homicide) | 6.6% |
Firearms are now the number one cause of death for children in the United States, but rank no higher than fifth in 11 other large and wealthy countries, a new KFF analysis finds.
Which is the most leading cause of death among under 5 years?
Malnutrition is the leading cause of about 45% of all childhood deaths [4].
While guns became the leading cause of death for American children only recently, they have been the leading cause of death among Black children for at least two decades. About a decade ago, Black boys were killed with guns at a rate of about 12 out of every 100,000.
If you look at how little their body is and how much they eat or drink, they are actually eating and drinking more and breathing in more air in proportion to their body size than an adult does. With this and their faster metabolic rates, their bodies are less capable of handling chemicals to which they're exposed.
Accidents (unintentional injuries) are the leading cause of death in children ages 1-4, 5-9 and 10-14.
Background: Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children younger than 5 years of age globally. The burden of diarrheal mortality is concentrated in low-resource settings. Little is known about the risk factors for childhood death from diarrheal disease in low- and middle-income countries.
Injuries are the #1 cause of death among children.
Cardiovascular disease is the top cause of death globally. In the map we see death rates from cardiovascular diseases across the world.
For more than a decade, heart disease and cancer have claimed the first and second spots respectively as the leading causes of deaths in America.
Medications are the leading cause of child poisoning today. Each year, more than 500,000 children under the age of five experience a potential poisoning related to medications. More than 60,000 children are treated in emergency departments due to accidental unsupervised ingestions each year.
Medicines are the most common cause of poisoning in children. Several medicines you or a family member are taking can be dangerous to children. Opioids and barbiturates are well-known dangers, but medicines for high blood pressure, mental health, and diabetes are also hazardous.
Which of the following children is most vulnerable to accidental poisoning?
Fatal poisonings are more common in children under the age of 1 but the peak time for non-fatal poisonings is between the ages of 1 and 4. The danger is particularly high for toddlers - at around the age of 2, when young children become more mobile and able to get hold of poisons.