HOMICIDES OF CHILDREN SOARED IN PANDEMIC’S FIRST YEAR

As the pandemic spread across the U.S. in 2020, the number of children who were killed rose precipitously, as did the number injured by firearms, scientists reported in two studies Monday.

A majority of the homicides were among Black children, and almost half were among children in the South. Each of those groups also accounted for most of the children brought to pediatric hospitals with gun injuries.

The rate of child homicide in the United States rose by about 28 percent in 2020, from 2.2 per 100,000 in 2019 to 2.8 per 100,000 in 2020, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

Homicide is the leading cause of death among American children, making the United States an outlier among similarly developed nations, where car crashes, cancer and other illnesses and injuries are the top causes of death.

About half of those are caused by firearms. But younger children are more likely to be killed by physical assaults than by firearms, including beatings or attacks with sharp objects or blunt instruments.

Gun homicides have also risen greatly among children in recent years. In a review of recent data on firearms, The New York Times reported last week that gun homicides involving children had increased by more than 73 percent since 2018 and that the disparity in risk between Black children and others was rapidly widening.

The authors of the study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, said the data highlighted a public health concern “warranting immediate attention.” Child homicides are “fundamentally preventable,” yet they are becoming “more common, not less,” an accompanying editorial said.

Overall, older children and boys of all ages were more likely to be victims of gun violence than younger children and girls. The CDC found a decline in homicide rates overall among girls, infants and children younger than 6 as well as among White children, Asian or Pacific Islander children and children in the Northeast.

Homicides of younger children often occur in or near the home and are most commonly perpetrated by parents and caregivers. The homicides often are linked to child abuse and neglect and reflect the stresses experienced by families, said Dr. Elinore J. Kaufman, a trauma surgeon at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and a coauthor of the editorial accompanying the homicide study.

“I don’t think we’re doing a good job of taking care of families, and it shows,” Kaufman said.