Connie K. Ho reviews the CDC report on the growing danger of young children swallowing batteries:
The researchers found that, from 1997 to 2010, around 40,400 children under the age of 13 were sent to hospital emergency departments for treatment related to injuries from batteries. Almost 10 percent of the injured needed to be hospitalized for treatment.
The problem has become more common in the past few years: there were 2.5 times the number of children who ingested batteries in 2010 than in 1998, with button-type batteries accounting for the majority of injuries.
Money quote:
“We live in a world designed by adults for the convenience of adults, and the safety of children is often not considered,” stated study author Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in the ABC News article.