Children's Most Common Injury Times: 'May-June, Weekends, Daytime'

Damage to experiential activities increases after COVID ends
Disease Control and Prevention Agency distributes educational videos for children

It was found that children are most frequently injured during the spring months of May and June when the weather starts to warm up. The leading cause of injuries among children was falls and slips. Injuries refer to all physical and mental health problems caused by external risk factors such as various accidents, disasters, and poisoning. According to the 2018?2022 Emergency Room Injury Patient In-depth Survey results released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 7th, children aged 4 to 13 accounted for 12.4% of all injuries.

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom along Yangjaecheon Stream in Seoul, where children from a nearby daycare center are enjoying an outdoor class under the sunlight on the 4th.
Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

Among injuries to children aged 4 to 13, 4-year-olds accounted for the highest proportion at 18.8%, followed by 5-year-olds at 15.1% and 6-year-olds at 12.3%. By gender, boys (64.4%) were about twice as likely to be injured as girls (35.6%). Injuries among children occurred most frequently in May and June (21.3%), followed by July (9.6%) and October (9.2%). Regardless of the season, falls and slips (37.2%) were the leading cause.

Looking at injury characteristics by month, transportation accidents increased from April to July and September to October, while drowning accidents rose from May to September. Transportation accidents refer to all accidents related to mechanical devices that carry people or cargo. Drowning accidents refer to incidents of falling into water. Additionally, injuries occurred more frequently on weekends (Saturday 19.8%, Sunday 18.9%) than on weekdays, and more in the afternoon hours (1 p.m. to 6 p.m., 48.8%) than in the morning.

The place where children were most frequently injured was at home (49.6%). Other common locations included roads (14.6%), schools and educational facilities (10.6%), and playgrounds (7.3%). As COVID-19 subsided, injury accidents occurring during children’s experiential activities surged. The proportion of injuries during experiential activities dropped sharply from 30.9% in 2019 to 7.4% in 2020 but recovered to 22.1% in 2022.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency developed a checklist on prevention rules and first aid guidelines for injuries experienced during children’s experiential activities and produced and distributed video educational materials to help children easily understand. Ji Young-mi, director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said, "Injuries can be sufficiently prevented through awareness and education," adding, "Since injuries occurring to children can leave lifelong disabilities or aftereffects, teachers and guardians must prepare in advance to ensure children can engage in healthy experiential activities."