Child death rate higher in U.S. than other wealthy nations

In all of the countries, about 90 percent of child deaths occurred among infants and older teens (aged 15 to 19). In the most recent decade studied (2001-2010), U.S. infants were 76 percent more likely to die and children aged 1 to 19 were 57 percent more likely to die than their counterparts in other wealthy nations.

Leading causes of infant death during the most recent decade were premature births and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Compared with babies in other countries in the study, U.S. children were three times more likely to die because of premature birth and more than twice as likely to die from SIDS, the study found.