Children from poorer backgrounds 'at greater injury risk'

The findings were part of guidance issued by good health champions Nice – the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence – on preventing injuries to children under 15.

Nice said three areas needed to be addressed to reduce the number of preventable injuries to children: better home safety assessments, road safety work, and better strategic working between the authorities.

In 2009, 65 under-15s were killed on Britain's roads and 2,267 were seriously injured.

In 2008, 55 children died from "choking, suffocation or strangling"; 17 from drowning and 10 from "smoke, fire and flames", the guidance said.

Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to be the victims with the report stating: "Children whose parents have never worked (or are long-term unemployed) are more likely to die from an unintentional injury compared to children whose parents are in higher managerial or professional occupations."

The chairman of Nice's public health interventions advisory committee, Prof Catherine Law, said: "There is a clear link between increasing speed and the risk of death in the event of a vehicle hitting a child.

"We also know children from poorer families are at high risk because they're more likely to be exposed to danger, for example, living in neighbourhoods with on-street parking, high speed traffic and few or no off-street play areas."

Nice wants to see bath tap safety valves installed in homes to reduce the chances of children being scalded – in addition to the installation of "window restrictors" to prevent children falling out.

Nice public health director Prof Mike Kelly, said: "Injuries in the home are the leading cause of unintentional injuries for children aged under five, including falls, burns, scalds, drowning, suffocation and poisoning.

"We recommend that help should be offered to parents and carers who may not have the appropriate information or tools to identify risks in their homes or may not have the money to buy and install the right equipment."