The homicide rate among children in the United States rose by more than 4% per year since 2013, but jumped nearly 28% from 2019 to 2020, new data show. [MedScape]

Although long-term trends varied by region and demographics, with some groups and areas seeing declines in killings, the increases were the highest among Black children and boys ages 11 to 17 years old, according to the researchers, who attribute the surge in violent deaths to a recent rise in firearm-related killings in children. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children in the United States, claiming what the American Academy of Pediatrics has equated to a classroom-full of lives each day.

"There are troubling recent rate increases among several groups, warranting immediate attention, with some racial and ethnic disparities persisting for more than 20 years," said Rebecca F. Wilson, PhD, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who helped conduct the study.

Wilson and her colleagues, whose findings appear this week in JAMA Pediatrics, examined data on 38,362 homicide victims in the United States aged 0 to 17 years who were killed between 1999 to 2020.

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