Child Drowning

Cumulative proportion
Drowning rate per 100,000
Figure 9: Cumulative proportion of fatal and non-fatal drowning among children, by age
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Fatal
Non fatal
infant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Age (years)
Source: Data from composite of survey countries: Bangladesh 2002, Cambodia 2006, China (Jiangxi Province) 2005, Thailand 2003 and
Viet Nam 2001.
The distribution of fatal drowning is mirrored in distribution of non-fatal drowning. One clear message
of the graph is the later in childhood intervention is begun, the less effective it will be in addressing all
children at risk of drowning. The yellow line shows that the median age of drowning under which half of
all fatal child drowning occurs is three years old. The green line shows that two thirds of all fatal
drowning in childhood has occurred by five years of age. Since interventions are different for very young
children and older children, from a prevention perspective there are two different scenarios to address.
Figure 10 shows the distribution in the two age groups.
Figure 10: Fatal drowning rates among children, by age and place of occurrence
120
In or near home
Away from home and In the community
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Age (years)
Source: Survey data, population weighted composite of Bangladesh 2002, Cambodia 2006, China (Beijing 2004, Jiangxi 2005), Thailand 2003
and Viet Nam 2001.
Drowning occurs throughout childhood. However, there are two separate epidemics: one affects
children under four years of age and accounts for the majority of drowning. It occurs because very
young children escape caretaker supervision and drown in unprotected water sources within 20 metres
of the home. Their caretakers are often unaware of the drowning for an hour or longer. The second is
for older children who drown further from home, 100 metres or more, where they swim alone or with a
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