Child Drowning Prevention Through a Health Equity Lens

To learn more about Children's Safety Network, visit childrenssafetynetwork.org
Each year, approximately 950 children and adolescents from birth to age 19 die due to drowning in the United States. Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages 1 to 4 years old, and it is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death for ages 5 to 19. Sadly, statistics show that drowning happens more frequently in some communities than in others. The CDC data from 2018 through 2022 show the drowning rates of Black children and adolescents from birth to age 19 are 1.9 times that of White children, and the rates of American Indian/Alaska Native children and adolescents are 1.5 times the rates of White children and adolescents of the same age. And in swimming pools, Black children and adolescents ages birth to 19 drown at twice the rate of White children and adolescents.
Drowning death is preventable. To save lives, states and jurisdictions can examine the disparities in drowning in their own states and local communities, and build impactful, relevant, and culturally responsive prevention programs.
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Child and Adolescent Injury and Violence Prevention Resource Centers Cooperative Agreement (U49MC28422) for $5,000,000 with 0 percent financed with non-governmental sources. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.