More Than 90,000 U.S. Infants Are Victims of Abuse or Neglect

Dr. Desmond Runyan, a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and an expert in child welfare, said he's convinced that only a fraction of maltreatment cases are ever reported.

"I'm sure these numbers underestimate the problem," he said. "Agencies investigate cases that come to their attention, because they're flagrant and are reported."

However, Runyan added that children are better treated now than in the past. "Taking the long historical view, we are at a place now where kids are probably safer than they've ever been in the history of the human race," he said.

Runyan thinks education about parenting -- particularly for teens -- is the key to preventing the maltreatment of infants and children.

"We still have a situation where you need a license to drive a car, but you don't need a license to be a parent," he said. "Kids don't come with owners' manuals. They cry and annoy people.

"Family planning and education in the schools about parenting and delaying having children until people are a little bit older are the things that probably would have the most dramatic impact on reducing the incidence of abuse and neglect," Runyan added.

More information

For more on child abuse and neglect, visit the U.S. Administration for Children and Families.

SOURCES: April 3, 2008, teleconference with Ileana Arias, Ph.D., director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta; Desmond Runyan, M.D., professor of pediatrics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill; April 4, 2008,Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report