Child Deaths

Definition:
The number of deaths to children ages 0-21 per 100,000 in the age-specific population.

Data Source: MD DHMH, Vital Statistics Administration; MDP Population Estimates.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, CDC Wonder Online Database.

Story Behind the Data:

Child deaths due to homicide, suicide, and unintentional injury are all deemed potentially preventable, and responsive to interventions designed to reduce these deaths.  Maryland’s child (age 0 to 21 years) death rates have been higher than national death rates for the last several years; however, the gap has narrowed.

Maryland’s child death rate decreased by 30% between 2006 and 2014 to 54.2 per 100,000 population.  In 2014, 904 children between the ages of 0 and 21 years died.  Death rates were higher among children 19-21 years old at 77.2 deaths per 100,000, compared to children 0-18 years, at 50.4 per 100,000.  Mortality was highest among non-Hispanic Black children at 82.7 per 100,000, compared to 40.4 per 100,000 among non-Hispanic White children, and 42.8 per 100,000 among Hispanic children.  Since 2006, deaths have decreased among non-Hispanic Black children by 26%; among non-Hispanic White children by 33%; and among Hispanic children by 13%.

Each Maryland jurisdiction has a Child Fatality Review Team which reviews unexpected deaths to resident children.  The purpose of these reviews is to identify changes in systems, policies, or practices at the local level which might reduce child deaths in the future. Examples of local team activities include training and community outreach addressing issues such as safe-infant-sleep practices, pool safety, CPR education, and gun safety.  Additional information about child deaths in Maryland, and the causes, is available in the 2014 Child Death Report.