A “distressing” total of 91,278 babies were mistreated in their first year of life in the United States in 2006, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

The CDC report, based on data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System between Oct. 1, 2005 and Sept. 30, 2006, was the first national examination to look at nonfatal maltreatments of children less than 1 year old.

“It’s a picture that you don’t even want to imagine – that these numbers of infant are being maltreated. We find it incredibly distressing and unacceptable that children nowadays are being subjected to these kinds of behaviors,” said lead author of the report, Ileana Arias of the federal CDC, according to the Washington Post.

Although the report looked mainly on nonfatal maltreatment, government figures showed that 499 babies up to age 1 were killed in maltreatment cases in 2006.

About a third of the maltreated infants, meaning 29,881, were abused or neglected in their first week of life, the CDC said.

“Neglect is officially defined as the failure to meet a child’s basic needs. That can be anything involving the provision of appropriate housing or food or clothes or even access to medical care,” Arias said. Neglect accounted for 68.5 percent of the reported cases. Many of these cases may be linked to maternal drug use.

A smaller number of infants – 13.2 percent – were victims of physical abuse by a parent or caregiver that resulted in injury during the first week of life, Arias said. Physical abuse included beating, kicking, biting, burning and shaking.

A total of 47,117 of the cases, meaning 52 percent, involved boys.

The findings were particularly worrisome, as children who suffer such abuse tend to develop numerous health and other problems.

“Because of that risk behavior, these people have higher risk of developing chronic conditions, such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease,” Arias said.

Early neglect and abuse raises the odds of a child’s risky behavior in adolescence and in turn could influence drug and alcohol use later in life, Joan E. Ohl, commissioner for children, youth and families in the Administration and Children and Families said, according to WebMD Web site. The Federal Administration for Children and Families collaborated on the study with the CDC.

Arias said the CDC is trying to find solutions to prevent the maltreatment of infants. “We are very committed to making sure that we prevent any instance of maltreatment. We want to get the kids before they are ever hit or neglected,” she said.

She added that more study is needed to find out how educational level, income and other factors affect maltreatment of infants. She also calls for more attention in prenatal settings and in hospitals before new mothers take their babies home. “There isn’t routine of individuals of how to parent,” she said.

The study is published in the April 4 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.