“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I’m beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.”
James Baldwin
When children are present in a place that is bombed, they die more frequently than adults. Their smaller bodies are not capable of absorbing the impact as well. Their heads are bigger and heavier and hit surfaces with greater force relative to their size. Their abdominal organs are not as well protected by their rib cages and are more exposed to blunt trauma. Their hearts and lungs are smaller, closer to the surface, less muscular and spacious, and less protected. The smaller the child, the greater their risk. When you bomb a place with children in it, your primary intention is to kill all the children first.
When children are present in a place that is starved of food and water, they die more rapidly than adults. Because of their increased metabolic needs and greater body surface area, a lack of clean water and nutrition affects them profoundly. Dehydration can set in in a matter of hours, malnutrition in a matter of days. Their eyes sink and their skins tent. They grow listless and their development stunts. Over time, their organs start to slow and falter, their kidneys become unable to filter urine, their hearts unable to keep pace. In infants, this happens even more rapidly, with simple electrolyte deficiencies from a lack of formula leading to seizures and, eventually, death. The smaller the child, the greater their risk. When you cut off water and food to a population with children, your primary intention is to starve all the children first.