OR (95% CI) P Value OR (95% CI) P Value OR (95% CI) P Value OR (95% CI) P Value

nificantly more likely than those who cannot to have had formalswimminglessons(P.001).Almostall(94%)parents were unaware of the AAP policy statement on swimming lessons. Only 40% of those with a pool at home reported having a fence. Forty percent of children received lessons from a parent, 36% from a swimming instructor, 4% from a relative, and 21% from a swimming school (Table 1). Almost 10% of the sample reported having had a swimming accident (total N=143), with 1 death reported. Logistic regression analysis showed that African Americanchildrenwhoswimearlierweremorethantwice as likely as Hispanic children to have had formal swimming lessons (odds ratio, 2.13; 95% confidence interval, 1.33- 3.42; P.01) and to have a pool at home (odds ratio, 2.78; 95% confidence interval, 1.50-5.13; P.001). Overall, Hispanic and African American children are less likely than white children to swim by the age of 4 years whether or not they have had lessons (Table 2). The major limitation of this study is that parents reported their child’s swimming ability. Swimming ability and lessons were defined in detail on the survey to address this issue. Also, as is the case with most voluntary surveys, it was a convenience sample. Comment. This was a survey of families living in a highriskgeographicareafordrowningamongayoungagegroup inparticular.TheAAPstatesthatchildrenaregenerallynot developmentally ready for formal swimming lessons until afterage4years.Conversely,ouranalysisshowedthatmost families report that their child could swim proficiently by this age. Recent studies show that swimming lessons can actually be protective. 6 The child motor development literature 7,8 clearly shows that motor skills are not agedetermined, but only age-related. Additionally, the rate of childhood drowning has not significantly decreased since the AAP issued and subsequently reaffirmed their statement on swimming lessons. There also appears to be an increasingemergenceofethnicdisparitiesregardingswimming ability that needs to be addressed as noted here and inthenationalnews. 9 Identifiedinthisstudyweredisparities among African American and Hispanic children compared with white children. In conclusion, while swimming lessons may not make a child swim safely, they do appear to aid in earlier swimming preparedness as reported in this study. Research that supports the use of any specific age cutoff for initiating swimming lessons is lacking and it is important to provide families with the most current information. Further research to identify the true correlationbetweenearlyswimminginstructionandswimming age is needed.