User:LozoRa/Drowning

Infant Risk
Children are overrepresented in drowning statistics, with children aged 0-4 years old having the highest number of deaths due to unintentional downing. In 2019 alone 32,070 children between the ages 1-4 years old died as a result of unintentional drowning, equating to an age-adjusted fatality of 6.04 per 100,000 children. Infants are particularly vulnerable because while their mobility develops quickly, their perception concerning their ability for locomotion between surfaces develops slower. An infant can have full control of their movements, but simply wont recognize that water does not provide the same support for crawling as hardwood floors would. An infant’s capacity for movement needs to be met with an appropriate perception of surfaces of support (and avoidance of surfaces that do not support locomotion) to avoid drowning. By crawling and interacting with their environment, infants learn to distinguish surfaces offering support for locomotion from those that do not and their perception of surface characteristics will improve, as well as their perception of falls risk, over several weeks.