Racial, ethnic disparities in swimming skills found across generations

• Only 46% of Black and 47% of Latine children had swimming lessons, compared to 72% of white children
• Less than 4% of white parents reported never learning to swim, compared to 26 percent of Black parents and over 32 percent of Latine parents
• CDC reports Black children ages 10-14 years old drown in pools at rates over seven times higher than white children
• Survey analyzed responses from 1,283 parents of 2,148 children aged four years and older

CHICAGO --- A parent survey from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago found intergenerational trends in swimming skills, with stark racial and ethnic differences.

“Our results underscore that racial and ethnic gaps in swimming competence run in families, and that children are less likely to swim when their parents can’t swim,” said senior author Dr. Michelle Macy, an emergency medicine physician at Lurie Children’s and associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. 

The study will be published Dec. 9 in the journal Pediatrics.

Fewer parents who identified as Latine and Black reported comfort with their own swimming skills (less than 25 percent and 28 percent, respectively), compared to white parents (56 percent). Similarly, less than 33 percent of Black parents and less than 40 percent of Latine parents affirmed their children’s swimming competence, compared to nearly 60 percent of white parents.

The survey also revealed that over 26 percent of Black parents and over 32 percent of Latine parents reported they never learned to swim, compared to less than 4 percent of white parents. Likewise, fewer Black and Latine children had swimming lessons, compared to white children (46 percent, 47 percent and 72 percent, respectively). 

“To improve swimming abilities in Black and Latine communities, we need to address swim comfort and skills for both parents and their children,” Macy said. “Expanding access to pools and affordable, culturally tailored water-safety programs are critically important strategies to help eliminate racial disparities in child drownings." 

Black children ages 10-14 years old drown in swimming pools at rates over seven times higher than white children, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The survey used the Voices of Child Health in Chicago Parent Panel to ascertain parent and child experiences with swim lessons and swimming skills. Macy and colleagues analyzed responses from 1,283 parents of 2,148 children aged four years and older. Participants represented the racial and ethnic diversity of Chicago.

Research at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute. The Manne Research Institute is focused on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Lurie Children’s is ranked as one of the nation’s top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. It is the pediatric training ground for Feinberg. Emergency medicine-focused research at Lurie Children’s is conducted through the Grainger Research Program in Pediatric Emergency Medicine.