Department of Home Economics, School of Home Economics, Ankara, Turkey

This study was planned with the aims of evaluating poisoning accidents encountered in children aged between 0-6 years, who applied to the H. Hidayet Doğruer Obstetrics and Children's Hospital in Kırıkkale in 2003, and of determining the measures taken by families to prevent further accidents in their homes. Poisoning accidents were concentrated in children aged between 2-3 years. The major causative poisoning agents were determined to be drugs and cleaning agents, and the majority of accidents (34.0%) occurred in the kitchen. It has been determined that most of the poisoning accidents (49.5%) stemmed from storing of drugs within the reach of children. Of all mothers participating in the study, 68.9% declared that they have taken measures to prevent future poisoning accidents in their homes.