{"id":158,"date":"2014-05-19T12:31:51","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T16:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mypoolsigns.com\/blog\/?p=158"},"modified":"2025-03-11T04:03:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T08:03:28","slug":"nonswimmers-becoming-health-crisis-u-s-u-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mypoolsigns.com/blog\/nonswimmers-becoming-health-crisis-u-s-u-k\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonswimmers becoming health crisis in U.S. and U.K."},"content":{"rendered":"

The news<\/a> out of Britain is ominous for an island nation: More than 50 percent of children age 7 to 11 can\u2019t swim 25 meters, according to a new study. This in a country where swimming is actually a required skill for graduation! In America, lack of swimming skills is becoming a serious problem as well. As in the U.K., the culprit is a lack of funding for swimming pools and learn-to-swim programs in schools. But unlike our neighbors across the pond, American schools have largely abandoned<\/a> swimming requirements.<\/p>\n

\"learning<\/a>

Countries should start to approach swimming education as a potentially lifesaving measure. From Monkey Mash Button<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

The result is that more and more children are failing to learn a vital lifesaving skill \u2014 especially the poor and disadvantaged. More than 70 percent of African American children don\u2019t know how to swim today, leading to a drowning rate that\u2019s <\/span>three times higher<\/a> than white children. Other minority children are similarly at risk.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just kids who are drowning. Years of swimming education neglect has produced a predictable, though little-known, result. <\/span>Nationwide<\/a>, nearly 40 percent of the adults can\u2019t swim the length of a 25-yard pool. In states like Minnesota \u2014 land of 10,000 lakes \u2014 half of all adults don\u2019t know how to swim. No wonder 70 percent of U.S. drownings are adults.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At this rate, the U.S. and U.K. will begin to look more like the rest of the world, where <\/span>drowning<\/a> is nearly a health epidemic taking more than 350,000 lives annually. A few key statistics from the World Health Organization:<\/span><\/p>\n