Why is popcorn a choking hazard?

[Anonymous]

Is it the unpopped or half popped kernels? I guess the hulls sometimes need to be washed down, but how could that cause choking? Just curious since popcorn can be a healthy snack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it the unpopped or half popped kernels? I guess the hulls sometimes need to be washed down, but how could that cause choking? Just curious since popcorn can be a healthy snack.

I think you have answered your own question. Popcorn is a choking hazard for all of those reasons. Just don't do it. It isn't worth the risk! There are other healthy snacks that are softer and don't cause a choking hazard.

[Anonymous]

Any small food that doesn't dissolve into pasty form completely in the mouth (popcorn, raisins, hard pretzels, for examples) is a choking hazard for a small child. Also, children tend to laugh and talk while they eat, so there is more of a risk of food going into the esophagus. (Food "going down the wrong pipe.") Also, children take big bites and don't chew their food well.

Children can choke on any food however, so don't have a false sense of security about ANY food. I choked on a piece of birthday cake as a child. We were playing a game and laughing uproariously -- I remember how the birthday cake lodged in my throat and the feeling I couldn't get any air.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any small food that doesn't dissolve into pasty form completely in the mouth (popcorn, raisins, hard pretzels, for examples) is a choking hazard for a small child. Also, children tend to laugh and talk while they eat, so there is more of a risk of food going into the esophagus. (Food "going down the wrong pipe.") Also, children take big bites and don't chew their food well.

Children can choke on any food however, so don't have a false sense of security about ANY food. I choked on a piece of birthday cake as a child. We were playing a game and laughing uproariously -- I remember how the birthday cake lodged in my throat and the feeling I couldn't get any air.

Sorry to break it to you but the esophagus is not the "wrong pipe"... LOL
You DO WANT the food to go into your esophagus. You don't want it going down your TRACHEA!

[Anonymous]

Mine's been eating popcorn since 2.5, no problem. It's a great healthy snack. We watch him, just like we watch him when he's eating anything else.

[Anonymous]

The real problem with popcorn that makes it so much worse than other small foods is the shape. A popped piece of pop corn is very hard to hiemlich out of a choking child. Because it is so jagged, it gets stuck and can't be dislodged. Try to avoid all choking hazard foods -- as PP noted, little things that don't go pasty in the mouth -- but things like popcorn are especially bad because they don't get soft and they don't dislodge with a smack on the back or a thrust under the ribs.

Another thing to watch out for are balloons. If a child inhales a piece of popped balloon it can completely block their throat but it is very hard for you to get it out.

[Anonymous]

i'm a huge popcorn lover, the kind you pop in a pot with oil....this has been one of the hardest rules to follow, but i did it for my DS's first 27 months. just the other week, though, i popped some and he knew what it was (i think he'd had it at daycare.) that really shocked me. anyway, we've eaten it a few times together, but he's not all the wild about it. i'm glad b/c it was making me very nervous!

[Anonymous]

I was sitting next to a retired pediatrician at a ball game the other week and my 4 year old was eating popcorn. She must have told him 20 times to only eat one piece at a time and chew it carefully. Evidently, it REALLY concerned her.

[Anonymous]

I love popcorn but it has always seemed very dangerous for little kids to me. My friends would send the 3 YO kids down to the basement to watch TV with a bowl of popcorn. I would be the ONLY adult who would insist on going down to supervise. Seemed like a choking incident just waiting to happen.

It's a round food, it's dry so it can stick in the throat. I actually break it into smaller pieces for my 2 YO.

[Anonymous]

When does it become NOT a choking hazard? I love to make air-popped popcorn, but don't do it when my 1 y.o. is awake because I know she'll want some.

[Anonymous]

OP here-- Interesting to hear some opinions on this... I guess I should have added that my DD is 27 months so not sure the "doesn't break down to pasty in the mouth" rule would apply, but some of the other thoughts make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When does it become NOT a choking hazard? I love to make air-popped popcorn, but don't do it when my 1 y.o. is awake because I know she'll want some.

They say at least age 4.

[Anonymous]

george w. bush choked on a PRETZEL!!

[Anonymous]

OP, you basically named what's wrong with it. Essentially, it's jagged and gets stuck relatively easily, and is relatively difficult to dislodge. There are other healthful snacks out there, no reason to risk it before 4.

[Anonymous]

I have the answer I actually saw a medical program that discussed the risks of popcorn. The kernels are not the problem.

The problem is that the popped corn itself is so lightweight that it can be easily sucked right into a child's windpipe directly into their lung. They actually won't even choke that much because the thing goes straight through the airway.

The biggest concern is that this can happen without the child or parents knowing it. The child now has a piece of popcorn literally sitting in their lung. After a few days the infection called aspiration pnemonia kicks in and this is a life threatening condition. If the popcorn isn't surgically removed from the child's lung they will die. Sadly sometimes it's not discovered until it's too late. If it is discovered the risks from the infection and lung surgery are still huge and the child still may not survive.