title: Education of young children concerning poison prevention.
abstract: Every year about 5,000 fatal accidental poisonings occur in the United States. About 50 percent of those who die are children under the age of 5 years. Medications, house plants, and household cleaning agents are the three leading causes of accidental poisonings in this age range. Since there is an always changing population of children under the age of 5 years, there is a continuing need for education. A committee of the Student American Kentucky Pharmaceutical Association decided to become actively involved in filling the need for education by writing and performing a poison prevention puppet play. The 10-minute play is suitable for small volunteer organizations. It requires only a small financial outlay, and two persons with minimal training can present the play. The play has been shown to more than 6,000 youngsters in the past 2 years. Responses to followup surveys of both the teachers and the students have shown a positive effect on the children's attitudes toward poison prevention.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Butts
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Beck
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007629:Kentucky; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011041:Poisoning / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires