Effect of Urbanization on Child Safety

Background: The world’s population living in urban areas has grown up from 14% to over 50%. This study was designed aiming to compare injuries related mortality and morbidity in Urban vs Rural settings among children in Iran. Methods: Data were gathered from a household survey. A t-test was used to analyze the relationship between outcomes. Achievements: Injury in all ages accounts for 17% of all deaths in Iran. 20% of death in children is due to injuries. Children in urban settings sustain injuries due to traffic accident, airway blockage and fall from height more than rural children. About 63.5% of morbidity related to injuries occurs in private homes or in residential areas e.g. yards and compounds. In these injuries, no significant statistically difference was found between rural vs. urban setting (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: Beside area level measures as an index for considering urbanization, other elements including quality of roads, distances from markets and so on should be considered as well. Safety for children is an important element to be provided prior to planning cities by urban developers. Expansion of the International Safe Community program is a potential solution.