Common Childhood Injuries and Poisonings - Facts About Poisons Facts About Poisons Children are naturally inquisitive and love to explore their world. Infants tend to put everything in their mouths and toddlers grab whatever looks interesting. Adolescents may experiment with drugs and other mind-altering substances. More than 75 percent of these calls involve children under 5 years of age.
Poisoning is the fourth leading cause of death in children.
The peak incidence of poisonings occurs between 1 and 3 years of age. Poisonings in infants younger than 1 year of age usually result from improper use of medications, such as giving the wrong medication or wrong dose of a medication. Eighty-seven percent of poisonings in children occur in the home. Iron medications are the most common cause of poisonings in children younger than 5 years of age. In fact, dinnertime is such a busy time of day for most families, that many times parents do not supervise their children as closely as usual.