ATLANTA -- About 1 in 50 infants in the U.S. are victims of nonfatal child neglect or abuse, according to the first national study of the problem in that age group.
The study focused on children younger than 1, and found nearly a third were one week old or younger when the abuse or neglect occurred.
Most of these cases involved neglect, and may in part reflect families without health insurance that are not getting adequate care for their children, said David Finkelhor, who is familiar with the data but was not involved in the study. Finkelhor directs the Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.
"It's not primarily kids being hit, but parents showing signs of not being able to really care for their kids," he said.
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