Amal Al-Sibai Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — For those who have not traveled and must bear the soaring high temperatures this summer, one of the best options for family recreation and children's activities may be swimming. The most refreshing place to be is in the water, whether it is swimming, diving, snorkeling, aqua aerobics, or jet skiing. There is much more evidence than meets the eye that points to the outstanding benefits of swimming and surprisingly, the earlier the child starts the better. First of all, teaching young children to swim can no doubt help save lives. Drowning is a catastrophic accident that is preventable by teaching children how to swim and basic water safety rules, ensuring adult supervision of young children, gating home and public pools, and by educating the community in CPR. Consider that in the United States drowning is the leading cause of death for children under 5 years of age, and an estimated 500,000 people worldwide die from drowning each year. Data on drowning cases in Saudi Arabia is lacking and this issue is not given the attention it deserves. “Infants are at higher risk of drowning in bathtubs, open buckets, toilets or traditional washing machines, while most drowning in older children occurs in residential swimming pools. “In one Saudi study, up to 87 percent of the victims were not properly supervised at the time of the drowning accident,” said Professor Mohammed M. Jan, faculty member at the Department of Pediatrics at King Abdulaziz University. So, swimming for kids at times is a necessity and not just a sport or a hobby. Swimming provides excellent exercise with a host of positive outcomes on health in children and adults alike. It improves fitness level and is a full body workout because unlike most exercises such as jogging or bicycling, swimming works the major muscles in both the upper and lower body. It is also considered aerobic exercise which is good for the heart and cardiovascular system. Attending regular swimming lessons is one way of increasing physical activity for children which is instrumental in curbing the rise in childhood obesity that has been occurring in recent years in the Kingdom. The beauty of swimming is that for most children, it is fun and enjoyable which will guarantee commitment and continuity because the main reason why people quit exercising is that they find it to be boring. “Swimming is the best exercise for preventing weight gain. Swimming gives you the benefits of three different forms of exercise in one: aerobics, toning and firming the body's muscles, and stretching. During my training for certification as a swimming instructor, our instructors used to tell us that as far as the benefits for the body go, just ten minutes of swimming is equivalent to one hour of working out on the treadmill or other exercise equipment,” said Mariam Ibrahim who gives swimming lessons to young girls and women at Olympia, a Jeddah-based fitness center that has a branch for men, women, and kids. Recent research has revealed that swimming is good not only for children's bodies but for young minds as well. Early starters showed more pronounced advantages in their mental and physical prowess. Swimming at any early age can actually make kids smarter. Professor Robyn Jorgensen at Griffith Institute for Educational Research conducted a study and extensive survey of 7,000 children under the age of 5 to detect any differences in learning abilities among the swimmers and non-swimmers. Findings showed that when tested, swimming children performed better than their non-swimming counterparts in language, intellectual, and social skills and also in physical challenges. For example, the study showed that young swimmers were counting to 10 at an earlier age than is normally expected in child development milestones. “As well as achieving physical milestones faster, children also scored significantly better in visual-motor skills such as cutting paper, coloring in, drawing lines and shapes, and many mathematically-related tasks. Their oral expression was also better as well as in the general areas of literacy and numeracy,” researchers stated. Enrolling children in early swimming lessons gives them a head start for getting them ready to excel at school and is also one way to follow the Sunnah and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). In a well-known Hadith narrated by Uman ibn Al-Khattab, the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Teach your children swimming, archery, and horse-riding.”
