The researchers recommended pool fencing to help prevent drownings. (CBC)

Swimming lessons among children aged one to four years of age may help to reduce their risk of drowning, according to a new study.

The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that all children be taught to swim after age five years as a preventive strategy, but has no recommendation on swimming lessons in younger children because of a lack of data.

'Formal swimming lessons offer an opportunity to make a real difference in communities around the globe to prevent the sound of happy children splashing in water from turning into the wail of an ambulance siren or the sound of a parent crying in grief.'— Dr. Frederick Rivara

In the March issue of JAMA's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Dr. Ruth Brenner of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md., and her colleagues looked at the link between drowning and swimming lessons in those aged one to 19 in six U.S. states.

The researchers interviewed the families of 88 children who drowned between 2003 and 2005 and the families of 213 controls who were the same age and sex and lived in the same county as the drowning victims.

Among children aged one to four years, only two of the 61 who had drowned (three per cent) had ever taken formal swimming lessons, compared with 35 of the 134 controls (26 per cent).

Parents said that children who drowned were less skilled swimmers, with five per cent able to float on their back for 10 seconds, compared with 18 per cent among the controls.

The link between swimming lessons and drowning was not statistically significant among children aged five to 19, the researchers said.

Proficient swimmers can drown

"Previous concerns have been raised about the potential for swimming lessons to increase the risk of drowning, either through increased exposure to water or through decreased parental vigilance as parents become more confident in their child’s swimming ability," the study's authors wrote.

While the findings of this and similar studies provide reassurance that swimming lessons may have a protective effect, parents should be cautioned that swimming skills alone cannot offer complete protection and that even proficient swimmers can drown.

The team also recommended other preventive strategies, including:

• Putting fencing around pools.
• Appropriate adult supervision and training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Children aged one to four are at greatest risk of drowning, Dr. Frederick Rivara of the University of Washington, Seattle, said in a journal editorial.

In addition to the prevention tips offered by the researchers, Rivara suggested using personal flotation devices.

"Swimming lessons should not replace these other strategies, nor should they substitute for adult supervision and vigilance," Rivara concluded.

"However, formal swimming lessons offer an opportunity to make a real difference in communities around the globe to prevent the sound of happy children splashing in water from turning into the wail of an ambulance siren or the sound of a parent crying in grief."