North Carolina’s child mortality rate rose to its highest level in more than a decade in 2022, according to a new report from the state Child Fatality Task Force.
The rate climbed to 64.2 per 100,000 in 2022 — up 8% over the rate reported in 2021 — to its highest rate since 2009.
The task force makes annual recommendations to state lawmakers for policy changes they believe will keep children healthier. However, lawmakers don’t always follow them.
Deaths among teens between 15 and 17 years old were down slightly from 2021. Deaths due to unintentional injuries among children ages 1 through 4 were up sharply.
“You're talking about things like drowning, poisoning, suffocation, choking, strangulation that’s unintentional fire, excessive exposure to natural heat,” said Kella Hatcher, director of the Child Fatality Task Force.
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