Death rates from unintentional injuries among children and adolescents from birth to age 19 declined by nearly 30% from 2000 to 2009, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Still, more than 9,000 children died as a result of unintentional injury in the United States in 2009. Although rates for most causes of child injuries decreased, suffocation rates rose, with a 54% increase in reported suffocation among infants under age 1, according to the report.

Poisoning death rates also increased. Among teens ages 15 to 19, poisoning deaths — largely from prescription drug overdose — jumped by 91%, the report found.

Child injury death rates varied substantially by state in 2009, ranging from less than five deaths per 100,000 children in Massachusetts and New Jersey to more than 23 deaths per 100,000 children in South Dakota and Mississippi. •