{"id":2017,"date":"2024-05-16T15:22:43","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T15:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/16\/us-drowning-death-rates-have-increased-reversing-decades-of-decline\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T15:22:43","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T15:22:43","slug":"us-drowning-death-rates-have-increased-reversing-decades-of-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/16\/us-drowning-death-rates-have-increased-reversing-decades-of-decline\/","title":{"rendered":"US drowning death rates have increased, reversing decades of decline"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After decades of decline, accidental drowning rates are rising in the US, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported. With Americans getting ready to hit swimming pools and beaches on Memorial Day weekend, a new study shows that many lack the skills they need to stay safe in the water. <\/p>\n

Roughly 15% of US adults \u2013 40 million people \u2013 say they don\u2019t know how to swim.\u00a0More than half of adults have never taken a swimming lesson, according to a new national survey by the CDC. The new data on swimming skills in the US population is included in a Vital Signs report released Tuesday by the CDC. <\/p>\n

It comes on the heels of an increase in drowning deaths in the US in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic.\u00a0Each year, on average, about 4,000 Americans died from accidental drowning, a number that changed little from 2011 to 2020. <\/p>\n

But that number has been about 10% higher the past few years, adding 500 to 600 more deaths each year to the annual tally.\u00a0It\u2019s the first uptick in drowning rates in the US for at least\u00a0two decades. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I just look at the overall numbers, with over 4,000 people dying \u2013 that\u2019s over 12 people a day \u2013 that\u2019s really one person every two hours. And those are lives, not numbers,\u201d said Dr. <\/strong>Debra <\/strong>Houry, chief medical officer for the CDC. <\/p>\n

The increases in drownings were even more dramatic for certain ages and racial groups. <\/p>\n

Drowning has long been the leading cause of death for preschool-age children. Drowning rates increased almost 30% in this age group in 2021 and 2022. Although the number of drowning deaths in children ages 4 and younger increased among young children in 2020, the rate increase was not statistically significant that year. <\/p>\n

Black people also saw drowning rates increase faster than the general population; compared with 2019, they were nearly 30% higher in 2021.\u00a0That\u2019s despite the fact that Black Americans reported spending less recreational time in the water than White and Hispanic people.\u00a0If drowning rates were calculated based on exposure rather than population, the study authors noted, it\u2019s likely that the disparities for Black people would be even more pronounced. <\/p>\n

Additionally, the CDC\u2019s swimming skills survey found that 1 in 3 Black adults said they couldn\u2019t swim, compared with 1 in 7 adults in the general population, a legacy of segregation and discrimination in access to swimming pools in the US, according to the CDC. <\/p>\n

Hispanic Americans, a group that doesn\u2019t traditionally have disproportionately higher drowning rates compared with White non-Hispanics, also saw drowning rates increase by nearly 25% in 2022, compared with 2019. <\/p>\n

American Indian and Alaska Natives continued to have the highest rates of drownings of any racial or ethnic group overall. In 2019, there were about 3 drowning deaths for every 100,000 people among American Indian and Alaska Natives, a rate that has seen little change over the course of the pandemic.\u00a0By comparison, there were 1.2 accidental drowning deaths for every 100,000 among White people in 2019. <\/p>\n

Houry says it\u2019s hard to say exactly how the pandemic may have played a role in the increases.\u00a0The study can only make associations \u2013 it can\u2019t untangle the causes \u2013 but she notes that it was harder to get into public pools, with many closing or implementing policies that limited access.\u00a0Staffing was also problematic for many swim venues. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere would have been people, if swimming pools were closed for that year, who didn\u2019t get swim lessons and so might have been behind in <\/strong>getting swim lessons,\u201d Houry said. <\/p>\n

Berkeley Champlin didn\u2019t know the statistics around drowning deaths in young children until her son, Gordie, tragically became one of them. <\/p>\n

In July 2020, 3-year-old Gordie slipped unnoticed out of the sliding glass doors in Champlin\u2019s home in Livonia, Michigan, while Champlin was at work. Normally, he would have been in day care, but like many schools, it was shut down at the time. <\/p>\n

His father, who was home with him, later found him in the family\u2019s pool. He couldn\u2019t be revived. <\/p>\n

Gordie loved animals and couldn\u2019t go to sleep at night without special stuffed animals: an elephant and a bunny. <\/p>\n

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Berkeley Champlin tattooed her son Gordie’s favorite stuffed animals on her forearm to remember him.<\/span> <\/div>
Courtesy Berkeley Champlin<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI put his elephant and his bunny in his casket with him so that he has them always, because he\u2019s sleeping,\u201d Champlin said.\u00a0She has drawings of the stuffies tattooed on her forearm. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wish he would have had swim lessons,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Every year since Gordie died, Champlin has channeled her grief into raising money for swim lessons for other children. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very expensive.\u00a0It costs $120 a month in some places for a child to take lessons,\u201d said Champlin, who knows that may put them out of reach for some families. <\/p>\n

Champlin set a goal of paying for three kids to learn to swim each year.\u00a0This year, 42 families reached out to her for help, and she set up a\u00a0GoFundMe account\u00a0to raise money to cover them all. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone else is ever in that situation, or if you go on vacation, or you\u2019re on the lake or a new pool or something that you don\u2019t have your standard parameters around, swim lessons is the way to prevent accidents from happening,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Houry, from the CDC, agrees. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we forget drowning is still a really big problem for our young kids and that we can do something about it by making sure kids know how to swim,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Houry said the CDC is funding programs at the Red Cross and YMCA to help lower the cost of lessons and make sure everyone who needs them can get them \u201cbecause it\u2019s so important to have that equitable access,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n

Houry said kids should start getting swim lessons between the ages of 1 and 4. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are an adult and you don\u2019t know how to swim, it\u2019s never too late to get that swim lesson. It\u2019s really important,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

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    <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n

    But Houry\u00a0<\/strong>said that even if kids can swim, adults shouldn\u2019t leave them unattended, drink alcohol or get distracted while watching kids in the pool. <\/p>\n

    In settings like a party, where it\u2019s easy for conversations or phones to divert attention, the CDC says it can be useful to assign an adult specifically to watch kids in the pool.\u00a0When swim time is over, the\u00a0CDC recommends\u00a0shutting and locking doors that give access to water.\u00a0In the event that something does happen, learning CPR can help you save a life before paramedics arrive. <\/p>\n

    Houry says fencing that completely encloses a pool can help make backyard and community pools safer.\u00a0In open water, like lakes, life jackets are important for safety, too.\u00a0 When visiting a lake or ocean beach, it\u2019s a good idea to take stock of the hazards, such as rip currents, before going into the water. <\/p>\n

    As Gordie\u2019s birthday approaches on July 12, Champlin said, she finds herself wondering what kind of a party he\u2019d want at age 6. Would he still love animals and superheroes as much, or would it be some kind of gaming thing like Roblox? <\/p>\n

    Just as in past years, they\u2019ll spend his birthday at the zoo, a place that still holds vivid memories of her son. <\/p>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s something that doesn\u2019t go away,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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