How to prevent drowning, the leading cause of death in young children

Are you, your family or friends ready to jump into a pool, lake, river or other body of water to cool off from the summer heat? Before you do, you may want to take a closer look at the drowning statistics.

In fact, drowning deaths continue to be a significant—and in some cases worse—problem around the world. In the United States, for example, over 4,500 drowning deaths were reported each year between 2020 and 2022, according to a study published in the Center for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). That’s an increase of 500 deaths per year since 2019. Yet the dangers of drowning still seem to lie far below the surface in the public consciousness—and Bloomberg Philanthropies has been trying to change that since 2012.

“The issue of drowning has not received enough attention and has not been fully recognized as a public health problem,” said Kelly Larson, director of accident prevention at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Data on drowning is limited and drowning prevention is underfunded.”

And you know what? Drowning disproportionately affects people from economically or socially disadvantaged communities in the United States and around the world. Larson emphasized that “roughly 90% of drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.” Yes, yet another public health problem that makes those who are already worse off even worse off. So how can this situation be changed? Well, here are five ways:

1. Teach more people to swim.

Not surprisingly, not being able to swim increases your risk of drowning. And children aren’t born swimmers. You can’t just throw them into the water and expect them to become little Michael Phelps or Katie Ladeckys. According to the CDC, drowning has been the leading cause of death among one- to four-year-olds in the United States for some time now, so many children may be getting too close to too much water before they learn to swim.

But lack of swimming skills is not just a problem for young children. National surveys have found that about 55% of adults in the United States have never had swimming lessons. And where are you more likely to find an adult who can’t swim? Surprise, surprise, in economically or socially disadvantaged communities.

A key focus of the partnership between Bloomberg Philanthropies, the CDC Foundation and the CDC is to improve basic swimming skills and water safety in the 10 states with the highest number of drowning deaths: Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma and Texas. “These 10 states account for about half of all drowning deaths in the United States,” said Kelly Larson, director of accident prevention at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “We’re working with the CDC, the CDC Foundation and community organizations to provide swimming lessons for 6- to 15-year-olds.” Bloomberg Philanthropies has done similar work in Vietnam.

2. Supervise children more closely.

Kids are kids. Without proper supervision, they can get into all kinds of trouble. And in this case, the danger of drowning can mean water. “Children supervised by a community supervision program have an 88% lower risk of drowning,” Larson explained. “It only takes a moment for someone to drown.” And it doesn’t take much water to drown, either. That’s why you should keep an eye on what kids are doing around water, even if they know how to swim. A child who already knows how to swim can still jump into water that’s far too turbulent or injure themselves to the point where they can’t stay afloat.

Simply telling parents to take better care of their children is not enough. Parents don’t have 24-hour surveillance cameras in their heads and have other things to do like work, eat, sleep and keep their heads in their hands. As the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child” – which suggests that the surrounding community should also provide oversight. That’s why Bloomberg Philanthropies is working with community partners like daycare centers in Bangladesh to improve child care.

3. Protect and restrict access to swimming pools and other potential bathing areas.

Kids will be kids. Unless you have every child live streaming on a YouTube channel 24/7, it’s almost impossible to watch them every single moment. So, in addition to supervision, putting up barriers like four-sided pool fences that are sufficiently safe can make it harder to keep kids out of trouble—that is, into water they don’t yet belong in. This was part of work supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies in the U.S. and other countries.

4. Provide personal flotation devices and other safety equipment.

“With a little help from a flotation device, you can get by,” isn’t exactly what the Beatles song says. But it’s true for everyone, especially those who aren’t yet able to swim safely in all kinds of water conditions. It’s true even for those who already know how to swim. As Larson pointed out, “Anyone can drown.” A change in water conditions, a little exhaustion, or a little distraction can trip up even those who can swim fairly well. So part of the work supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies has been to equip various swimming areas with flotation devices and other types of safety equipment.

5. Improve data collection.

While the above approaches can clearly help, the issue of drowning remains murky waters in many ways. One big problem is a four-letter word that should really be the opposite of dirty: data, or the lack thereof. Trying to prevent drowning without having enough data on why people drown, what the current risks are, and what interventions might be effective is a bit like trying to win a soccer game without knowing the score or any statistics. “One goal was to strengthen data collection and better understand the circumstances of drowning accidents,” Larson said. “And to review government laws and policies that can prevent drowning.” This included improving data collection in LMICs such as Uganda and Ghana, and using more data to develop strategies to combat the drowning problem. Larson added that this has already led to insights, such as finding that in some countries, fishermen – those who fish for a living – are at higher risk of drowning.

More data could also help raise public awareness of the problem of drowning. Swimming pools and other bodies of water can be important places of refuge, especially during summer heatwaves, but it is important to understand the risks involved.