![]() Of all the age groups, children aged 0–4 years had the highest death rate and also non-fatal injury rate. hospital emergency departments for non-fatal drowning. ![]() Ī Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in 2012 of United States data from 2005–2009 indicated that each year an average of 513 children aged 0–4 years were victims of fatal drowning and a further 3,057 of that age range were treated in U.S. Overall, drowning is the most common fatal injury among children aged 1–4 years in the USA, and is the second highest cause of death altogether in that age range, after congenital defects. Drowning risk ĭrowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury and death worldwide, and the highest rates are among children. The diving response can therefore be regarded as an important defence mechanism for the body. Oxygen is saved for the heart and the brain, slowing the onset of serious hypoxic damage. The diving response has been shown to have an oxygen-conserving effect, both during movement and at rest. The glottis is spontaneously sealed off and the water entering the upper respiratory tract is diverted down the esophagus into the stomach. During the diving reflex, the infant's heart rate decreases by an average of 20%. This reflex involves apnea (loss of drive to breathe), slowed heart rate ( reflex bradycardia), and reduced blood circulation to the extremities such as fingers and toes (peripheral vasoconstriction). Other mammals also demonstrate this phenomenon (see mammalian diving reflex). Most human babies demonstrate an innate swimming or diving reflex from birth until the age of approximately six months, which are part of a wider range of primitive reflexes found in infants and babies, but not children, adolescents and adults. Pediatricians also reported cases of cardiac arrest or respiratory failure. A German physician pointed out the health risks of infant diving and the sometimes serious consequences as early as 1986, writing that since the introduction of baby swimming in Germany, several hundred infants had died from brain complications as a result of sinusitis and otitis that occurred after diving. īabies can imitate swimming motions and reflexes, but are not yet physically capable of swimming.Ī submersion of the head may last only a few seconds. Although this may be done to reduce their risk of drowning, the effects on drowning risk are not reliable. Infants can also be taken to swimming lessons. Most infants, though not all, will reflexively hold their breath when submerged to protect their airway and are able to survive immersion in water for short periods of time. Newborns are not old enough to hold their breath intentionally or strong enough to keep their head above water, and cannot swim unassisted. It is not true that babies are born with the ability to swim, though they have primitive reflexes that make it look like they are. ![]() The slowing of heart rate and breathing is called the bradycardic response. Infant swimming is the phenomenon of human babies and toddlers reflexively moving themselves through water and changing their rate of respiration and heart rate in response to being submerged.
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