The Choking Game: Gasping for your life!

A survey at a Texas University found that one in seven students who were surveyed have played the "choking game".

This is something that all parents should be aware of not only becasue of the potential fatal risks involved, but also because more kids are doing this than expected.

This so-called 'game' is played individually or in groups and involves deliberately cutting off blood flow to the brain in order to achieve a high. This is done by choking oneself or others, applying a ligature around the neck, placing a plastic bag over the head, placing heavy objects on the chest, or hyperventilating.

The dangerous behavior -- also called the "fainting game," "pass out" or "space monkey" -- has led to several suffocation deaths in around the country, according to the website the Chokinggame.net, the actual number of deaths is not know because there is no public health agency currently tracking them. However, according to published data by the CDC data, an estimated 800 to 1,000 kids between the ages of 10 to 19 die of strangulation every year. Most of these are recorded as suicides. We do not know what percentage of these are actually accidents. Even if it was only 10% that would be 80 to 100 kids a year in the US.

"This study was undertaken to determine who is playing the game, in what context, and how they learned about it," Glen Kercher, director of the Crime Victims' Institute, said in a university news release. "It is our hope that these findings will inform efforts by parents, schools and community agencies to warn young people about the dangers of participating in the choking game."

The investigators conducted a survey of 837 university students and found that 16 percent reported having played the choking game and 72 percent of those students said they had done so more than once. The average age when students first played the choking game was 14, and 90 percent of those who had played the game first heard about it from peers.

Curiosity was the primary motivation for playing the choking game and most of those who had participated said others were present. Males were more likely to have participated than females, the findings showed.

Learning about the potential dangers of the choking game acted as a deterrent for most the students who had never engaged in this behavior.

"This 'game,' as it is often called, does not require obtaining any drugs or alcohol, is free, and can go undetected by many parents, teachers, physicians and other authority figures. Most importantly, many of those who engage in this activity do not understand that the practice can be just as deadly as the illegal substances youth have been warned against," the study authors pointed out in the news release.

To learn more go to:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about the choking game or try these other resources Chokinggame.net , GASP Website.