Swimming Lessons Help Prevent Drowning
Lack of Vigilance Does Not Increase Drowning Risk for Toddlers
Aug 1, 2009
Parents may wonder if sending their small children to swim lessons is only setting the stage for a false sense of security that could put their child in danger. At least if they know for a fact that their 3-year-old can’t swim, they won’t be tempted to take their eyes off him, right?
National Institutes of Health Study on Drowning
The National Institutes of Health recently debunked this myth with a study released in March 2009. According to the study, “Providing very young children with swimming lessons appears to have a protective effect against drowning and does not increase children’s risk of drowning.” (“Swimming Lessons Do Not Increase Drowning Risk in Young Children”, NIH News, March 2, 2009)
The researchers studied coroner reports and interviewed the families of children ages 1 through 19 who had died by drowning. They compared those reports to another child of the same age and gender in the same geographical location who did not drown.
The study showed that only 3% of the children aged 1 to 4 years who drowned had received swimming lessons as compared with 26% of the children who did not drown.
In the older age group, the 5 to 19 year olds, 27% of those who drowned had taken swimming lessons as compared to 53% of those who did not.
The study does not specifically calculate the extent of the protective effect of swimming lessons on children, but it may be that children learn enough skills to survive until a parent discovers they are in trouble (which may only take seconds). Perhaps the child is even able to call for help, which is key to avoiding drowning, what is often called a “silent killer.”
Drowning Prevention for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Still, the study is quick to point out that swimming lessons alone are not enough to protect young children from drowning. Other ways to prevent drowning deaths include:
- Fence in pools and spas with a 4 foot high or taller fence that is not easy for a child to climb or squeeze through. Install self-closing, self-latching gates with the latches out of a child’s reach.
- Consider using pool alarms or safety covers for pools and spas.
- Remove toys and other temptations from pools when not in use so that a child does not fall in trying to retrieve them.
- Supervise children at all times. For groups of adults, ensure that whoever is on “pool duty” knows it, so that it isn’t just assumed that the children were being watched by somebody else.
- Beware of pool and spa drains, which have strong suction that can be dangerous for young children and can also trap clothing or hair.
- Learn CPR. Prompt administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation can save a drowning victim's life.
More than anything, what parents should take away from this study is that putting small children in swim classes is one additional way to protect them from drowning, but that teaching them to swim by itself is not enough. For more information on water-related injuries, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Water-related Injuries Fact Sheet.
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