Health

Swimming lessons for kids plummeted during COVID-19 pandemic, researchers say

By Mallika Marshall, MD

October 7, 2024 / 5:32 PM EDT / CBS Boston

Less children learned to swim during COVID-19 pandemic

BOSTON - Many children missed out on swimming lessons during the pandemic, a new study has found.

It's estimated that nearly a thousand kids and teens die from drowning each year.

Researchers at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago surveyed more than a thousand parents there and found that nearly three out of four kids had no swimming lessons in the summer of 2022.

Black and Hispanic/Latino kids were disproportionately affected. Reasons included the parents themselves not being comfortable with swimming and the cost.

Kids who can't swim grow up to be adults who can't swim. According to the CDC, two out of three Black adults and three out of four Hispanic/Latino adults don't know how to swim compared to less than half of white adults.

Researchers are calling on new approaches to fill the gap and targeted outreach and expanded programming to offer swimming lessons to elementary-age kids and teens who may not want to take lessons with preschoolers.

COVID-19 Pandemic
Swimming

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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