Child Remains Unconscious after Choking on Marshmallows in Okinawa Pref.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:34 JST, May 3, 2024

An elementary school student choked on marshmallows and fell unconscious at an afterschool children’s club in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, according to an announcement by the Ishigaki municipal government on Thursday.

The child, who has not been identified to protect privacy, has reportedly been hospitalized since the incident on April 22.

According to the announcement, the child choked on the marshmallows which had been served as a snack at the privately-run children’s club in the early evening. The staff at the facility gave back blows to the choking child and managed to get one marshmallow out, but the child subsequently fell unconscious and was sent to hospital.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry’s guidebook for schools about instructions on food states that food with little moisture and round-shaped food items are high risk, as they can causing choking by getting lodged in the pharynx, and calls for steps to make them safer. Steps include making such items smaller in size so that children find them easier to eat.