Mar 9, 2011

Age and Gender: Major Factors Affecting Drowning

In line with the previous post on this blog regarding drowning, (click here to view the post) World Health Organization named age and gender as major factors that affect drowning.

1. AGE. According to WHO, age is one of the main factors of drowning which is also associated with the lack of supervision. 
Generally, children ages 5 and below are more prone to drowning worldwide except Canada and New Zealand where male adults are more at risk. The following statistics are very alarming:
  • In Australia, drowning is the major cause of unintentional injury death among children with 1 to 3 years of age.
  • In the United States, drowning is the second major cause of unintentional injury death among children with 1 to 4 years of age.
  • In China,  drowning is the major cause of  injury death among children with 1 to 14 years of age.
  • In Bangladesh, drowning accounts 20% of all deaths among children with 1 to 4 years of age.

    2. GENDER. Men are more prone to drowning than women. 
    According to studies, it is because men are more exposed to water and risky behaviors like swimming alone, drinking alcohol before swimming and boating. The number of mortality rate of men regarding drowning is double the number as women.


    Other factors affecting drowning are the following:
    • low socio-economic status (member of an ethnic minority, lack of higher education)
    • use of alcohol
    • lack of supervision (for children)
    • overcrowded vehicles used in water transportation
    • medical conditions including epilepsy
    • unfamiliarity of the water features and risks (for tourists)
    • floods and other natural disasters


    Reference: World Health Organization

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