Parents have to be so careful when it comes to that "choking hazard" warning, but food tends to be "eat at your own risk."
The most common choking hazard for children between the ages of zero and 14 years old was hard candy, Boston.com reported.
A study looked at choking incidents in children from 2001 to 2011. About 12,000 children were sent to the hospital for choking-related incidents every year. The mean age was 4.5, although a third of the patients were under a year old. Ten percent of the children were admitted into the hospital, instead of just having a trip to the emergency room.
This study didn't include children who had died from choking, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said an average of 57 children under the age of 14 pass away from it every year.
The five "danger" foods are: "hard candy, other candy (gum), meat, bone, fruits and vegetables."
Hot dogs, which are notoriously thought of as a choking hazard, were only number 11 on the list.
For children one to two years old the list changed a bit. The top foods they choked on were: fruits and veggies, seeds and nuts, and other candy (since toddlers are rarely given hard candy).
For infants under a year the top offenders were: Formula or breast milk, fruits and vegetables, and biscuits, cookies, or crackers.
Balloons are the number one cause of choking-related death from a toy in infants. Children between the ages of three and eight are still at risk for choking on them. Parents are also urged to watch out for small or broken toy parts, and any cylindrical shaped objects, the University of Michigan reported.
Toddlers aren't the only ones who choke on small objects. Three teenagers were hospitalized recently for inhaling darts from blowguns, LiveScience reported.
