Youth Indicators, 2005: Trends in the Well-Being of American Youth

Indicator 51: Death and Causes of Death

Table 51. Number of deaths per 100,000 persons 5 to 14 and 15 to 24 years old, by sex, race, and cause of death: Various years, 1960 to 2000
Characteristic	1960	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	1998	1999	2000	2001
5 to 14 years old
All causes	46.6	41.3	35.2	30.6	26.3	24.0	22.5	19.9	19.2	18.0	17.3
Males, total	55.7	50.5	43.3	36.7	31.6	28.5	26.7	23.4	22.2	20.9	19.8
Males, White¹	52.7	48.0	40.9	35.0	29.9	26.4	24.5	21.2	20.3	19.8	18.4
Males, Black¹	75.1	67.1	57.0	47.4	41.3	41.2	40.2	35.6	34.6	28.2	27.7
Females, total	37.3	31.8	26.8	24.2	20.8	19.3	18.2	16.2	16.1	15.0	14.6
Females, White¹	34.7	29.9	25.5	22.9	19.4	17.9	16.6	15.0	14.9	14.1	13.9
Females, Black¹	53.8	43.8	34.0	30.5	28.1	27.5	26.5	23.1	22.6	20.0	18.7
Accidents	19.2	20.1	18.1	15.0	12.6	10.4	9.3	8.3	—	—	—
Motor vehicle accidents	7.9	10.2	8.7	7.9	6.9	5.9	5.4	4.8	—	4.3	4.1
All other accidents	11.3	9.9	9.4	7.1	5.7	4.5	3.9	3.5	7.8	—	—
Suicide	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.4	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.6	0.7	0.7
Homicide and legal intervention	0.5	0.9	1.0	1.2	1.2	1.5	1.5	1.2	1.1	1.3²	1.3²
Males, White¹	0.4	0.5	0.8	0.9	1.1	1.1	1.3	0.9	0.9	1.2²	1.1²
Males, Black¹	1.4	4.2	2.7	2.9	3.3	5.1	5.0	3.2	2.9	3.1²	3.6²
Females, White¹	0.3	0.5	0.8	1.0	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.8²	0.9²
Females, Black¹	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.2	2.0	3.6	2.2	2.1	1.8	10.7²	8.9²
Cancer	6.8	6.0	4.8	4.3	3.5	3.1	2.7	2.6	2.6	2.5	2.5
Heart disease	1.3	0.8	0.9	0.9	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.7
Pneumonia/influenza	2.6	1.6	1.0	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3
15 to 24 years old
All causes	106.3	127.7	117.3	115.4	95.9	99.2	95.3	82.3	81.2	79.9	80.7
Males, total	152.1	188.5	174.1	172.3	141.1	147.4	140.5	119.3	115.9	114.9	117.0
Males, White¹	143.7	170.8	163.6	167.0	136.3	131.3	122.3	107.6	104.9	105.8	108.0
Males, Black¹	212.0	320.6	246.0	209.1	174.1	252.2	249.2	194.6	185.6	181.4	180.7
Females, total	61.3	68.1	59.8	57.5	49.9	49.0	48.1	43.5	44.7	43.1	42.6
Females, White¹	54.9	61.6	55.3	55.5	48.4	45.9	44.3	41.2	42.2	41.1	40.8
Females, Black¹	107.5	111.9	87.0	70.5	59.5	68.7	70.3	58.0	60.1	58.3	54.9
Accidents	56.1	68.7	60.3	61.7	47.9	43.9	38.5	35.8	36.3³	—	—
Motor vehicle accidents	38.0	47.2	39.2	44.8	35.7	34.1	29.5	26.9	—	26.9	26.8
All other accidents	18.1	21.5	21.1	16.9	12.2	9.8	9.0	8.9	—	—	—
Suicide	5.2	8.8	11.8	12.3	12.8	13.2	13.3	11.1	10.3	10.2	9.9
Males, White¹	8.6	13.9	19.6	21.4	22.7	23.2	23.5	19.3	17.8	17.9	17.6
Males, Black¹	4.1	10.5	12.7	12.3	13.3	15.1	18.0	15.0	14.4	14.2	13.0
Females, White¹	2.3	4.2	4.9	4.6	4.7	4.2	3.9	3.5	3.2	3.1	3.1
Females, Black¹	#	3.8	3.2	2.3	2.0	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.0	2.2	1.3
Homicide and legal intervention	5.9	11.7	13.7	15.6	12.1	19.9	20.3	14.8	13.2	12.6	13.3
Males, White¹	4.4	7.9	11.2	15.5	11.2	15.4	16.5	12.2	10.5	9.9	11.2
Males, Black¹	46.4	102.5	89.0	84.3	65.9	138.3	132.0	96.5	85.1	85.3	85.7
Females, White¹	1.5	2.7	4.0	4.7	3.6	4.0	4.0	2.8	3.0	2.7	3.0
Females, Black¹	11.9	17.7	20.3	18.4	14.2	18.9	16.8	12.6	11.5	10.7	8.9
Cancer	8.3	8.3	6.8	6.3	5.4	4.9	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.4	4.3
Heart disease	4.0	3.0	2.6	2.9	2.8	2.5	2.9	2.8	2.8	2.6	2.5
Pneumonia/influenza	3.0	2.4	1.7	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.4
—Not available.
#Rounds to zero.
¹Includes persons of Hispanic origin. For the year 1960, Black category includes all races except White.
²Includes persons ages 1–14.
³Death rate by motor vehicles was not provided separately.
NOTE: Rates for 2000 and 2001 were computed using 2000-based postcensal estimates and may differ from previously published estimates.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Vital Statistics of the United States, Volume II—Mortality, Part A, various years; Monthly Vital Statistics Report, vols. 42, 44, and 45; and National Vital Statistics Report, 1999 and 2000.

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