February 14, 2008
CDC Warns About 'Choking Game'
In a report to be published in tomorrow's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is cautioning parents, educators, and health care professionals about a practice known as the 'choking game,' which has resulted in death or disability for many youngsters. The 'game' involves choking oneself, manually or with a ligature such as a belt or scarf, to achieve what is described as a "cool" or "dreamy" feeling of euphoria. The problem, the CDC points out, is that this can go farther, to the point of asphyxiation, with resulting death or irreversible neurological damage. A National Center study that identified victims of the choking game from newspaper reports found children from ages 6 to 19 involved, with an average age of 13. Youngsters seem to hear about the choking game from peers, at school, summer camp, or a party, and most of those who try it do it alone rather than in company. The CDC report differentiates the choking game from suicide attempts, although fatalities are often classified as suicides. And boys are much more apt than girls to play the choking game, with 80 percent of reported incidents occurring in boys. While acknowledging that publicizing the practice through the new report might give more children information about how to choke themselves, the CDC said that concern was outweighed by the need to inform caretakers of the practice, in order to watch for signs that children may try it.
