Ever year 37,000 children under the age of 14 go to hospital suspected of swallowing something harmful.

The vast majority of these children are under five years old. Medicines account for almost half the cases overall and are particularly important for children between 2 and 4. Household chemicals account for 1 in 5 cases and are particularly prominent amoung very young children. The overall rate of poisonings by solid and liquids steadily goes down with age up to 9 and then shows an increase in the 10 to 14 age band. This is due to poisoning by alcohol which accounts for 41% of cases in this band as young teenagers begin to experiment with drinking. For non-fatal cases, the vulnerable groups are infants and toddlers, and with the group 1 - 3 year olds are particularly at risk - becoming increasingly mobile and exploratory but have not yet learnt what is not safe.