According to a new report published this week, more fatal unintentional drowning occurs in young black pool-goers than in white, Hispanic, and Asian youth.  The rate of swimming pool drowning for black children ages five to 19 is more than five times that of white children. Lead author of the report that appears in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Julie Gilchrist, suggests that fewer blacks are learning to swim.

Swimming is an inherently dangerous activity, and Gilchrist cautioned that it is a life-saving skill, not just another sporting activity. Research has long shown a higher risk of drowning in pools among blacks, and drowning is a major cause of death for all children. The ethnic gap in drowning rates is smaller outside of pools, and experts suggest that fewer blacks participate in boating and other open water activities.

For whites, toddlers are the most vulnerable to drowning, but the risk drops by about age five and remains lower. This is thought to be attributable to a higher tendency for white parents to enroll children in swimming lessons at an early age. Black toddlers experience fewer drownings, but the rate never falls as children get older.

Earlier research found that almost 60 percent of black children polled did not know how to swim or lacked confidence in deeper pool water. In white children polled, this number was only 31 percent. According to CDC surveillance data on children and young adults, Hispanics and whites have similar drowning rates while Asians are slightly lower. The drowning rate for blacks is 40 percent higher and topped only by the rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives, which are nearly twice as likely to drown than whites.

Another CDC study released this week reported that between 3,000 and 5,000 people suffer injuries that require emergency room visits from exposures to pool chemicals. Nearly half of these are children under age 18.