What is the most common ingested foreign body in children?

The most common ingested foreign body in children is a coin. This is primarily due to their prevalence in a child's environment as children are often exposed to coins when playing or when adults are handling money. Coins are small, easily graspable, and can be accidentally swallowed by curious young children who explore objects by placing them in their mouths.

While button batteries, sharp objects, and magnets can pose significant hazards and are indeed serious concerns with rising incidence rates, particularly the increasing number of ingestions involving button batteries and magnets due to their unique dangers, they do not surpass coins in frequency of ingestion. Coins represent a common, everyday object that is found in a variety of settings, which contributes to their status as the most frequently ingested foreign body in the pediatric population. Understanding this can help healthcare providers anticipate and manage foreign body ingestion cases effectively.